Triton aquaculture company to save Nigeria $125m through local fish production

The Triton Aquaculture company have expressed its readiness to partner the government to produce fish locally to meet up with the local demands, thereby saving the country some of the money spent on fish importation.

The company which in the past was importing fish into the country, said in three to five years to come, it will train local farmers and expand its own production capacity to be able to produce and satisfy local demands.

The CEO of Triton Aquaculture company, Raju Samtani disclosed this when he paid visit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja.

According to him “We have assured the government that in 3 to 5 years, we will be producing what we have been importing in the past and we will be saving the government the sum of $125 million.”

He further said that the company which exist in 10 countries globally, currently have employed over 60 farmers in Nigeria.

Samtani also said that the company is targeting to create 3000 jobs in the fish sub-sector, as it is also planning to increase its production capacity to 70,000 metric tonnes in the next five years.

Speaking on forex conservation, the CEO said the company was targeting to save $85 million annually for Nigeria through expanding its production locally.

In his response, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh said there is need to train youths and women in fish production.

He regretted that Nigeria spends about $700 million annually importing fish, while there are resources to produce locally.

He, however, revealed that the Ministry have acquired a 100 hectares of land to build training centres for farmers in different agricultural value chains.