Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has, on Thursday, August 4, 2022 inaugurated the first in Africa and second in the world cassava-based sorbitol factory.
The facility, named Psaltry International Company Limited, sited at Alayide village, Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo state, has the capacity to produce 25 tons of sorbitol per day and is second to the one in Indonesia.
Sorbitol is a naturally occurring sweetener, synthetically extracted from glucose, used in sugar-free foods, pharmaceutical products and oral care products such as mouth fresheners and toothpaste.
While inaugurating the factory, Engr Makinde declared that his administration is fully supportive of strides that directly improve economic activities and livelihood of citizens of the state, saying thus far, his government had attracted to the state, over N23 million in agribusiness investment apart from $25million in partners blended finance for rural roads in the state.
In her remarks, the founder, of Psaltry International Company Limited, Mrs Oluyemisi Iranloye, said the factory would reduce the nation’s reliance on imports and drive agricultural industrialisation in the county.
Mrs Iranloye charged financial institutions to support entrepreneurs and give longer moratorium to such projects to prevent failure.
In her own remarks, the Chairman, Board of Directors, Psaltry International and Independent Director, Odu’a Investment Company Limited, Mrs Folusho Olaniyan noted that the epoch-making factory would provide employment for 10,000 persons, impact on about 100,000 persons around the community and help reduce unemployment and the nation’s reliance on imported raw materials like sorbitol.
Lamenting that Nigeria is among the largest importer of sorbitol in the world, Olaniyan described the nation’s reliance on imported raw materials for local production as a plague to the economy, particularly with the usual fluctuation in the exchange rate.
Psaltry International was birthed in 2005 to process cassava into food and industrial products but began production in 2013 with its first cassava starch factory, until further expansions before becoming a cassava-based sorbitol factory.
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