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Photo courtesy of Deamar USA
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| Paul
Morgan, CEO of Deamar USA (pictured center-right),
and other officials visit flour mill plant in Akwa
Ibom. |
By James Overly
Akwa Ibom’s ambitious new flour mill (see Washington
Times Special Report, December 29, 2005) plans to produce
200 metric tons of flour per day. By putting this much
bread on the market, it will go far to improve the way
Nigerians in the delta eat.
The high demand for bread in the region will require
a "state of the art" project, both in its
construction and in the milling technology employed.
The two concepts of modular construction and short
flow technology now make it affordable for developing
countries to construct flour mills. Formerly, flour
milling was the preserve of countries capable of what
can be an enormous initial investment.
Paul Morgan, an American who has worked mills in Angola
and the Congo, is CEO of Deamar USA, LLC ,the company
building the mill.
"The new mill will be built using a modular concept
developed in Turkey," he says. "This method
permits a mill to be constructed in sections, put in
40 foot containers, and easily shipped to a site."
Mr. Morgan explains that this speed of construction
makes this the technology of choice with international
relief agencies for relief operations.
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Photo courtesy of Deamar USA
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| Flour
mill silos. |
"At the site," he continues, "the modules
are stacked to construct the mill. This method simplifies
site preparation—you basically need only to pour
a concrete slab."
The new mill will operate under what is called "short
flow" technology. This technology, perfected only
recently, brings greater efficiency and speed to flour
milling, and requires less equipment. The resulting
quality is very high.
Morgan estimates the total investment to be about $13.7
million.
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Photo courtesy of Deamar USA
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| A worker
operates flour mill plan sifters. |
Dr. Jeff Grwirtz, Kansas-based technical director of
the International Association of Operative Millers,
explains that the concept behind short flow milling
is to "generate a milling system that uses the
least amount of equipment to produce quality flour."
Dr. Grwirtz explains that milling flour involves sending
wheat through a series of "breaks," which
open the wheat kernel to expose and separate the inner
white portion, or endosperm, and "reductions,"
which convert the endosperm into flour. A traditional
mill might have five or six breaks, while the short
flow technology can reduce that to three, or even two.
While Mr. Morgan could not yet provide a target date
for completion, he says construction time should not
be prolonged. He describes the mill as "environmentally
friendly. It is benign in every sense—the only
runoff is clean water."
Once completed, Mr. Morgan expects the mill to employ
about 75 people who will work round-the-clock shifts.
Mr. Morgan expects management -- a CEO and a miller
-- to be expatriate personnel, at least at the beginning.
Eventually, these positions will be passed on to Akwa
Ibomites.
American investor lauds Akwa
Ibom investment climate
"I’ve been involved in the flour business
all over West Africa," says Paul Morgan, CEO of
Deamar USA, LLC, "and, in my experience, Akwa Ibom
is the best.
"First, Governor Attah is an impressive man. He’s
very straightforward. His abilities go well beyond the
political norm. Governor Attah runs a tight ship-neither
he nor any of his staff have ever asked me for a dime.
The staff of the investment agency, AKIIPOC, are extremely
dedicated and loyal people.
"Governor Attah exudes leadership. He’s technically
trained, and brings that technical training to development
projects. He works his people hard so that projects
get done right. He also shows that he cares a lot about
people."
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