A foremost investment company, Platform Capital is pleased to announce the ground-breaking ceremony of its Leather City Park (“Leather City”) and NIBRA Designs Limited (“NIBRA”) – a shoe production initiative in Ariara market, Aba, Abia state.
The shoe factory will be the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging world class Brazilian technology.
The NIBRA facility will launch with an initial capacity of 10,000 pairs a day, growing to 100,000 in 5 years. The project is scheduled to be commissioned by the fourth quarter of 2019 and NIBRA will employ 1,000 people for a start growing to over 5,000 in the medium term. Under secured offtake arrangements for 100% of our initial installed capacity, we will serve domestic and international markets.
Leather City on the other hand, will provide opportunities to increase productivity and product quality for a significant number of the 120,000 individuals currently in Ariara market.
For private enterprises and SMEs, Leather City will offer infrastructure as a shared service and skills development training to the growing population of Nigerian entrepreneurs in the leather and related goods space.
This will form part of a broader strategy to leverage the National Leather Policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria and develop the local supply chain to reduce dependence on imports as we improve the perception of made in Nigeria products.
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“We at Platform view this as a transformational initiative for the state of Abia, the entire South-East region and is a testament to Nigeria’s tested entrepreneurial spirit,” the company said in a statement. They further expressed their sincere appreciation toHis Excellency, Executive Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, NIBRA’s chairperson – Dr. Wura Abiola, the MD of Abia state PPP – Mr Austin Ufomba; and the Nigeria Export Import Bank as a key stakeholder. This brand-new city will operate as a free trade zone on sustainable principles, and world class infrastructure.
This project according to the statement represents further validation of Platform Capital’s growth opportunities strategy, where we take a long-term view with a bottom-up approach to value creation.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")