Chinese Government pledges loan for Cassava Ethanol Fuel Plan Construction Project

Project narrative

In August 2006, Nigeria's central state of Niger and the Chinese government signed an MoU for an ethanol plant, to be fed by cassava, in the state capital Minna. Secretary to the Niger State Government Adams Erena said the project would cost 11.6 billion naira (~$90 million). On January 24, 2008, Crownek Green Energy Nig. Ltd signed a $70 million commercial contract with China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (中国重型机械总公司) for the implementation of the Nigeria Cassava Ethanol Project. At the commercial contract signing ceremony, Crownek Green Energy Nig. Ltd and China National Heavy Machinery Corporation announced that they would seek to fund this project with a concessional loan from the Chinese Government. 85% of the cost of the project (9.86 billion naira) was to be financed through a loan from the Chinese government at a 3% interest rate. The 15% balance would be sourced by the state government from local banks. By 2006, the state government had already released 30 million naira to local cassava farmers to facilitate mass production of the commodity. However, it is unclear a Chinese Government loan ever materialized. This project involved the construction of a 180,000 liter per day ethanol-based fuel plant in Lyemero, Nigeria. The ethanol was produced from local cassava. A groundbreaking ceremony for the project took place on September 4, 2008. Upon completion, it was expected that the project would have the capacity to convert 150,000 tons of cassava into fuel energy. Erena said that the biofuel would be sold at cheaper rates for both local consumption and exports as ethanol. Wang Qingxin, managing director of the Chinese company, assured his Nigerian partner that the project would be completed within two years.