By GRACE OBIKE, Abuja

The Federal Government is set to begin producing paper in the country with Banana trees also known as sudo stems.

The discovery which was made by the Raw Materials Research Development Council (RMRDC), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is as a result of the challenges that paper industries in the country are facing.

Director of Industrial extension services department, RMRDC, Dr. Bola Olugbemi said the paper industry in the country, especially the one located in Jeba has gone down and manufacturers have been recycling paper from waste all this while.

Olugbemi said this Thursday in Abuja, at a press conference organised by Focus Africa in collaboration with RMRDC, titled: Africa science and innovation expo, to introduce the upcoming expo that will bring together the 54 African countries.

He said, “Banana is of the grass family, it is not actually a tree. We have a project in the council, we want to convert the Sudo stem to paper because we realised the challenges we are having with our paper industry in the country.

“Our paper industry in Jeba has gone down, what we have is recycling of paper from waste. The council is proud to collaborate with focus Africa on the wonderful project. As a government, we cannot run the race alone but we need to collaborate and partner with the organised private sector and Non-Governmental Organisations that fall within our mandate.”

International coordinator, Focus Africa, Dr. Linus Akepe said the essence of the expo is to link indigenous research, promote locally made goods all over Africa and in turn improve the value chain of raw materials.

He added that in the next five years, they want to see that 40% of Africans use African fabrics and produce what it consumes. (The Nation)

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