One of Africa’s largest green tea sourcing companies, Taraba Beverages Nigeria Ltd, the producers of Mambilla Highland Tea is up for sale, and it has been greeted with public criticism.
Ezikiel Iliya, the Managing Director of the Taraba Investment and Property Development, disclosed this on Wednesday while speaking to newsmen in Jalingo. He explained that the function of the agency was to build government corporations and transfer them to private investors.
The green tea company is located at Kakara, Sardauna Local Government Area of the state and it handles over 1.5 million kilos of tea annually.
According to Ililya, privatisation is the most common policy that can sustain any public business, and he stressed that the intention of the state government was to privatise its shares and equity to develop more companies.
“We are not selling the company in its entirety but to transfer ownership structure from the government to private individuals,” he said.
According to him, 75 per cent of shares would be sold off while 25 per cent would still be owned by the Taraba State government. He however noted that the state government will ensure it hands over the company to worthy entities to ensure its sustainability.
