By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Anambra State Government has signed a franchise agreement aimed at boosting fish production through a technology-driven aquaculture model.
The agreement enables Elite Cooperative Society Limited and other groups to deploy the TAENPROWIZ Fish Production Business System and Technology to commercialise table fish production.
The contract, brokered by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Business Development Agency, was signed in Awka on Tuesday by the cooperative’s president, Chukwuma Onyekwe, and the Managing Director of TeeMartins ICT Limited, Cosmas Ezenwanne.
TAENPROWIZ is a patented Nigerian aquaculture system designed to improve fish production through data-driven management across the fish production value chain.
The cooperative comprises youths trained under the ECOWAS-TAENPROWIZ Youth Training 1.0 programme and is expected to transition into full commercial fish production under the new framework.
TAENPROWIZ Production Partnership Centre Coordinator, Emeka Iloghalu, described the agreement as a major step toward increasing aquaculture output, creating jobs and strengthening food security in the state.
He said the cooperative emerged from a broader youth training initiative that also included cooperative development programmes facilitated by the Ministry of Industry and the Director of Cooperatives.
According to him, six fish production cooperatives were formed from the programme, with Elite Cooperative becoming the first to sign the franchise agreement.
Iloghalu added that the agency targets annual fish production of 675 million kilograms in the medium term and 1.35 billion kilograms in the long term to support industrial demand and exports within the ECOWAS region.
Onyekwe described the agreement as a milestone for the cooperative, expressing confidence that the technology would improve production efficiency and help members establish a strong presence in the fish business.
Ezenwanne said the partnership would allow the cooperative to deploy high-precision production technology to improve efficiency and increase output.
