Announced in 2016, the agreement set to build a plant in Rwanda by Morocco's Office Cherifieb des Phosphates (OCP) was finally signed and approved, Wednesday, reports the New Times. The joint agreement was signed by OCP, which will hold a majority 57.4 per cent stake in the new company dubbed Rwanda Fertilizer Company, Rwanda's Agro Processing Trust Corporation (APTC) (30%) and the Rwandan government (12.6%). «The trio will jointly set up a soil fertilizer blending firm in the country to produce, market and distribute fertilizers», explains the same source. OCP will be investing $6.3 million in the project. The land on which the factory will be built has been identified and its construction will take between 12 to 14 months. «There's been some behind-the-scene progress together with our Rwandan partners, since the announcing of the decision in 2016. We have been waiting for the approval of the joint venture from the Government of Rwanda to be able to match the establishment schedule», said Jihane Ajijti, the Business Development Manager of OCP Africa. Through this joint venture, the three parts will work on facilitating a shift away from generic fertilizers to tailor-made fertilizers, improving farmers' productivity and incomes. For the record, fertilizer blending is a technique that has been developed by OCP in the recent years. The agreement is part of the development of OCP's Africa strategy, and aims to unite efforts of both parties to improve local productivity.
