Operators of Edo Inland Container Deport, Atlantique Marine and Engineering Services (AMES) said the facility has the capacity of creating over 13,000 direct jobs as soon as it commences operation.

AMES Managing Director, Charles Akhigbe made this known in Benin during a meeting with members of the Edo Export Cluster and representatives of federal government regulatory agencies.

He said that the first phase of the project would accommodate 12,000 containers while the second phase would take 8,000.

Akigbe disclosed that the meeting was to strengthen the collaboration between AMES and Edo cluster aimed helping them in the exportation of agro allied and other non-oil products in the state.

According to him, the collaboration would help solve the problem of the loss of nearly 45 percent of harvested agro allied products that cannot reach markets on time.

He explained that agriculture contributes about $120 billion to annual Gross Domestic Product, representing between 24 to 26 percent and lamented that little or no amount of per capital of the fund gets to the small scale farmers.

Akigbe said AMES specialise in the exportation of Nigerian vegetable, herbs, spices, giant African land snails, plantation, cassava chips, soya beans, cocoyam beans, raw cashew, ginger, and snacks among others to African, UK, Europe and United States markets.

Also the Coordinator, Edo Export Cluster, Rhona Peters said the essence of the collaboration was to reduce wastages of agro-allied products, create jobs for the people as well as entrepreneurs in the state.