By Samuel
Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, has urged youths in the state to leverage on the opportunities in agriculture.
The governor noted that agro-economy is now the ‘new oil’ which the youth should key into.
Ayade made these remarks on Thursday during the launch of the Ogoja Rice Investment Exhibition 2020 held at Transcorp Hotel in Calabar.
The governor was represented by the state’s commissioner for commerce, Rosemary Archibong.
Meanwhile, Santuscom Agro-hub, the makers of Ogoja Rice, during the ceremony unveiled its crowdfunding platform.
The platform is meant to help people invest in rice farming and make returns of about 40%, the firm announced.
Speaking during the exhibition, Chief Executive Officer of Santuscom, Chief Ofana Paul Santus, maintained that the firm was already expanding its capacity to meet the state’s rising demand for rice.
“Right now, we are already expanding to 5,000 hectares because of increasing demand for the commodity,” Santus noted.
He also disclosed that the firm had begun producing 30 tonnes daily.
He added, “That is why we are opening the space for investors to come in under the crowdfunding platform to benefit from the attractive and guaranteed Return on Investment (ROI) of 40%.
“This is an impressive high yield investment that you must take advantage of. Don’t hesitate to make your money work for you.”
A representative of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Dr Emmanuel Etim, on his part urged the people of Cross River to invest in the venture as a platform for attaining food security.
He noted that the Council was willing to collaborate with Santuscom to increase Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product by training the firm on how to produce for export.
