ECOWAS Commission inaugurates a modern integrated abattoir in Abuja for the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS)

11 September 2023, Abuja.  The livestock and meat sub-sector in Nigeria is strengthened by the construction of a modern integrated abattoir. The Commissioner of Economic Affairs and Agriculture of the ECOWAS Commission officially opened the doors of this modern infrastructure for the benefit of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS).

More than 400 stakeholders in the livestock and meat value chain in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), diplomats, development partners and representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria did not want to be told the Commissioning ceremony of the modern integrated abattoir, one of the key outputs of the Innovative Investment Project in Livestock and Meat Value Chain Development in Nigeria, co-financed by the ECOWAS Commission and the Swiss Development Cooperation.

This modern slaughterhouse has facilities such as lairage, killing box, evisceration technology, weighbridge, veterinary office, processing units, processing facility water treated 24 hours a day, a packaging unit, a cold room of 25 tons, refrigerated vans, a meat wash, biodigesters, etc. It also has a training centre to build the capacity of butchers and other players in the meat and livestock sector. In addition, the slaughterhouse has waste conversion technology, which converts all waste into biogas and liquid fertilizer, etc.

The Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Musa Sani Nuhu, pointed out the direct impact of the abattoir: “There is no doubt that this project will make it possible to put in place regulations aimed at improving the quality of meat in order to guarantee the health of consumers, to increase the professionalism of professionals in the meat sector, to promote and introduce environmental safety and hygiene standards, and to create jobs, particularly for the young population”.

In just a few months of operation, the infrastructure has already helped to create more than 804 direct jobs for young people (men and women) and more than 2,000 indirect jobs in the marketing and distribution of meat products.

This significant impact was underlined by the Representative of the Swiss Development Cooperation in Nigeria, Ms Halida Hyejimiwo,  and she “urged the beneficiaries to take good care of it and the development partners to consider new partnerships with NANTS and other development-oriented organisations in the region in order to promote job creation, youth empowerment, food security and the reduction of insecurity in the region”.

Through this project, the ECOWAS Commission and NANTS aim to find sustainable solutions to the challenges faced by stakeholders in the livestock sub-sector, particularly in the livestock and meat value chains.

The construction of this infrastructure is also the fruit of the will and tenacity of the stakeholders of the National Association of Nigerian Traders, whose collaboration with ECOWAS was saluted by the Commissioner of Economic Affairs and Agriculture, HE Massandjé TOURE-LITSE: “ECOWAS has found in NANTS a worthy and reliable partner, and we are proud of this reputation. First of all, we have noted NANTS’ excellent performance on several advocacy projects implemented as part of ECOWAP 2025, but also through the dynamism of its stakeholders.”

This modern integrated abbatoir is also an output of the Programme to Support Livestock Marketing in West Africa (PACBAO) implemented since 2018 under the coordination of the ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) to promote livestock farmers’ access to remunerative markets, thereby making livestock farming more attractive, a source of jobs and income, particularly for young people and women in West Africa.

The model, which is new, will be capitalized on and replicated as good practice for scaling up in other ECOWAS member states as part of the modernization of the livestock and meat trade.

It is worth mentioning that NANTS is also starting up a small-scale milk and fodder production facility thanks to a new partnership with the ECOWAS Commission.