- Solewant Nigeria Invests $15m in Coating Plant
The Managing Director, Solewant Nigeria Limited, Mr. Solomon Ewanehi, said the company had invested over $15m in a coating plant in Port Harcourt, as part of efforts to boost local content.
A statement by the company quoted him as saying at the inauguration of the plant that the facility was capable of engaging from 500 to 1,200 employees, which would reduce unemployment in the Niger Delta.
He expressed his appreciation to the leadership of Alode community for ensuring peace and cordial relationship with the company where the plant is located.
Ewanehi said the plant would help to reduce the cost of coating for companies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, noting that people had had to go to China, India and other parts of the world to bring in coated pipes.
He said “As I speak with you right now, several hundred of kilometres of pipes are still being coated outside the shores of Nigeria, making the value of the dollar to be a challenge to the Nigerian economy.
“We are trying to use this plant as a pilot scheme to be able to ensure that there is transfer of technology.
“It is also to ensure that local content is not increasing cost but decreasing cost because there will be job availability and these foreign companies will be able to transfer technology to the country.”