Nigeria to help develop Rwanda’s potato industry, set up processing plants in multi-million dollar deal

The government of Rwanda has signed a multi-million dollar deal with a Nigerian investor, the Blackpace Africa Group, to revamp and develop Rwanda’s potato industry and help make the country a key producer and exporter of potato products. It is a new dawn for Irish potato growers in the country following the signing of the deal between the government and a Nigerian firm to develop the country’s Irish potato value chain. Under the deal signed last week, the BlackPace Africa Group will also set up two potato processing plants and boost production activities. The five-year project worth $120 million (Rwf102 billion) involves the building of two potato factories; one for frozen French fries, and another to produce potato products for the export market, according to Joseph Mugarulire, the director general of the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA). The firm targets a production capacity of 10 million tonnes of potatoes by the fifth year of the project, officials said. When it starts operations, it will process 80,000 to 100,000 tonnes of potatoes making frozen French fries. More