A group of businessmen announced on Thursday in Nampula that they are going to disburse 750 million dollars for the production of edible palm oil in the Luabo district of Zambezia province.

In Nampula province, in the Nacala-Porto district, the RG Indústrias Group already produces cooking oil based on soya and sunflower, and the project for Luabo will be palm-based production, starting in 2034.

The plan envisages occupying an area of 50,000 hectares, and in the first phase palm planting will take place on 25 hectares.

The idea is to reduce the cost of importing cooking oil into Mozambique, which currently stands at around 400 million dollars a year. In addition, the entrepreneurs expect to cut imports of raw materials for the Nacala-Porto unit by around 90 million dollars.

Another advantage, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the RG Indústrias Group, Momade Ussene, explained, will be the use of palm prunings for the production of margarine (butter), soaps and energy generation.