European Envoys Hail Nutrition Innovation In Kano Free Trade Zone

A Team Europe delegation, led by the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, has hailed NutriK’s expansion of production during a visit to the facility in Kano.

The delegation, which included ambassadors and representatives from EU Member States and UNICEF, toured the company’s facility in the Kano Free Trade Zone as part of a broader mission to review initiatives that contribute to nutrition, health, sustainable livelihoods, and economic development in northern Nigeria.

NutriK is a French-Nigerian company and a subsidiary of the France-based Nutriset Group. It produces Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a specialised nutritional product used to treat severe acute malnutrition in children.

The company is currently relying on imported groundnuts, as the processing system for locally produced groundnuts does not yet meet the required quality standards. NutriK is working with local producers to improve the processing of raw materials.

NutriK Managing Director, Abdoulkader Yonli, said the company is investing in local processing capacity and expects to begin using Nigeria-sourced groundnuts in production within the coming months, thereby reducing dependence on imported inputs.

“Using locally grown groundnuts as well as soya will significantly reduce costs, allow us to scale production, and impact the entire value chain, from farming and processing to distribution and employment,” Yonli said.

He further said that NutriK is fully committed to the fight against malnutrition, from treatment to prevention.

Currently, there are two facilities of this kind in Nigeria: in Kano and Lagos, and most RUTF products are sourced abroad. The demand remains much higher than our production capacities,” Yonli added.

NutriK recently relocated to the Kano Free Trade Zone. The expansion was financed by Proparco, the private-sector financing arm of the French Development Agency Group, supporting efforts to strengthen local manufacturing and build resilient nutrition supply chains.

The company currently employs 180 people directly, while many more benefit indirectly through suppliers, service providers and agricultural activities linked to production. As local sourcing expands, the number of farmers participating in the value chain is expected to grow.

Also speaking, the EU Ambassador, Gautier Mignot, said the products manufactured at the facility are helping to support vulnerable children while demonstrating how investment and innovation, as well as business-friendly conditions created by the Kano authorities, contribute to human development and economic growth.

“We came here to learn more about the progress being made, to engage with partners on the ground and to explore how collaboration between Kano, the European Union, UNICEF and the private sector can continue to deliver results,” Mignot said.

According to UNICEF, an estimated 2 million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition.