 Welcome back. Now Bamboo is one of the most socio-economically or economical farming crop that can yield an annual investment return of about 1.6 million Naira and above every year in Nigeria if ventured into. Its farming is a great long-term investment. It is eco-friendly, long-lasting and self-replanting which can last up to 70 years. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO, Africa has over 4 million hectares of bamboo farms which represent approximately 4% of the world's bamboo resources. Nigeria is estimated to have about 800,000 hectares of bamboo forests, making it one of the largest bamboo resources in the region. Now bamboo farming in Nigeria and Africa has great potential for export opportunities. I am now being joined by Zygwey Fander, a social and environmental entrepreneur with a passion to transform sustainable bamboo, K and A, into economically viable products that improve the well-being of households and businesses. Now Fander holds degree in master's in chemical engineering from the University of Aberdeen, UK. She has worked as a process safety engineer in the oil and gas industry and founded Lady Bamboo, limited a social enterprise producing and processing bamboo, rotten and K and into sustainable products such as furniture, accessories, decors, cooking and dining utensils among others. Many thanks for joining me, Zygwey. How do you pronounce your name, by the way? So my name is Zygwey. Zygwey, so I'm attracted, right? I'm attracted, right? Yeah, you go, Justin. So let's talk about this bamboo farmer. For my intro, it is actually a marketer who has great potentials for, not just Nigeria, but for Africa in general. And do you have actually keyed into that train as it were? What actually inspired you going into that line of business? Yeah, so for me, what inspired me was, so when I came back from the UK, because actually I did my undergrad as well in the UK. So I got back home and then I was to do my internship. While I realized internship in Nigeria most of the time is not as in the UK because in the UK, if you're doing your internship, you're more or less like a worker, so they don't separate. But coming into Nigeria, there was no scope for me, so I just realized I wasn't doing much, so I stopped the internship. And obviously you work with time, I'm time conscious, so I didn't want to waste my time. So I just like, okay, what can I do to add value to myself and then to my community? And I just thought of it that I should go into bamboo because of the possibilities it had. Because to be honest, bamboo is the new gold. And why do I say that? Because you and I know that one of the major problems that United Nations, World Bank are pounding and talking about is global warming. And one of the major things to solve that problem is bamboo. And why is it bamboo? Because bamboo release about 35% oxygen into the atmosphere more than the normal plants in the trees you see around. And then when you use bamboo around, like your product, bamboo product and raffia and all that, because they're eco-friendly, they absorb carbon dioxide with about 30%. So it means that it's the major source to solve the problem of global warming. And of recent, one of the conferences United Nations heard the acts of get India automated to plan bamboo because it's one major as well that solve deforestation problem because it has the ability to regenerate. And then it has the root as well that helps solve the problem of erosion. Okay, fine. That's a very, very equal way of looking at it. Now, let's talk about some of the business angle of bamboo. From my intro, I said that it is expected to reach about 8.3 billion dollars by 2025. That's in the next two years. Just how far is Nigeria playing in that market in that sphere? Yes, so I would want to go with the present estimation or the finding according to classified SPPD. They say that Nigeria have about 1.7 million hectares of natural existing bamboo. Yeah, so it means that just the natural one, just like you did introduction earlier on, is found at the river Rhine area and all of those. So for me, I get my bamboo from Auchi, mostly Edo state. Yeah, so it means that with that estimation of the natural existing bamboo we have, so also there's an estimated findings that the bamboo market in Nigeria is very huge, which is estimated to be about 20 billion USD. Yes, based on research. So it means that if the proper awareness and a lot of people coming to that field, we can take advantage of it proper. And I believe that that will encourage or enhance the economic capacity of Nigeria, because we already have it already. We don't have to plan it at the moment, even though we're looking ahead, thinking on how to plan the bamboo, because it's a major role material. If you want to look at the why that's going on into the future, it means as we're using it, we have to look for a way of replacing it. Yeah, so we're thinking in that direction already, but the market is very, very huge. So I know that you have a company and you actually are into the processing of very, there's a whole lot of value chains from the farm into the finished products that we see. Which of them are you specifically involved in? So for me, for now, I am not doing it like the massive scale, because if I want to go into the massive scale out, my plan is to have like a massive bamboo processing company. So now we are now enhancing bamboo just at the elementary stage. I will say, why do I say that? Because now we get bamboo, we don't really process it. All we do is to cut it, clean it up and then treat it and then do like our furniture and other easy or elementary stuff. But if we're looking at it at the wider scale, like if you want to meet the world standard, you know, we have to have like a massive industry. Because if you look at China in South Africa, there's a company called Muscle. So what they do is this one, their own work is to process bamboo. Because when bamboo is processed, it can be converted to planks, it can be converted to boards. In short, like BMW, most of their luxury cars, they use bamboo in their dashboard. I was going to ask you about durability. Now let's talk about the processing which are involved. You do the cleaning and you convert to furniture, to upholstery and some other value additions that you put into it. So how is the acceptability like in Nigeria as part of the finished product? And talking about durability, how durable are those finished products? So yeah, so bamboo is very, very durable. So for instance, I'll give you an example in the construction industry. So bamboo is used as an reinforcement material. So because if you look at the iron rod you use around to make your decking and all of those stuff, it weighs about 20, 25 pounds. But bamboo has a good tensile strength. So it has about 28 pounds. So you can see like bamboo is economical and it durable more than even the iron rod you see around. So once it's treated, you know, like bamboo, the major problem is if you, you know, it has a hole inside it and because of the carbon dioxide or the sugar content, it attracts tamarind. But once it's treated using boric acid, you know, that's it. Bamboo can last for as long as you want it. So specifically I can make furniture. Like that's what I have in the studio just all out of bamboo. Really, I think it lasts for as long as you use normal wood. Yes, I think one of the pictures I sent you for that furniture, the woman testified that she used it for like 20 years now. 20 years. Yes. So it's very, very durable naturally. That's why in Asian countries and other countries that are well exposed with it and have good knowledge of bamboo, they use it for constructions. And they use it for a lot of stuff that is durable because they are aware of it. And researchers found out that it's even stronger than the iron rod that we spend a lot of money buying it. So most times now when you go to some households, you see the furniture made from cane, are they in any related or extracted from the bamboo or are they two different material? Yes, so they had two different materials. So bamboo, I would say, is a bigger, it's kind of wider and larger because if you look at it, it's taller and it has like a hole, maybe ranging from two inches and above. But the cane is normally slimmer, very slim. You see it around the riverine area. So maybe when you go to the river, you see all those trees around that are lanky and tall and covey and all that. Yeah, most of the time they are the cane. But bamboo grows in a more kind of place like a riverine place where you put in rice and all that. But the difference is bamboo is bigger, wider, and it grows taller and straight. You could see this like sugarcane. Like for me, the way I describe it to people is I said, you know sugarcane? It's just like the bigger version of it. That's bamboo. Yeah, just that you don't take it in. Even though we have about 1500 species of bamboo based on research, you know, it grows depending on the region that you're in. So what are some of the challenges that are inherent in your sector? For instance, I know you've talked about the processes that are involved before you can actually get to do your finished product in order. But aside from those stuff that you had mentioned, what other challenge is there for your kind of business? Yes. So for me, I realized based on my findings over time that I'm into this business, I realized that a lot of people are not aware of it. They don't know the benefit of it compared to other African countries. So for instance, I was in Kenya to represent Nigeria for the International Bamboo Study Tour in partnership with United Nations and Imba. Imba is the international body for bamboo and rotten. So I realized that a lot of African countries in Asian countries, United Nations are so into it because this is one of the major means to reduce global warming. So I realized that in Nigeria, we don't have that much because there's not much of awareness. Well, I think now there are a lot of people, I have other people on board that are really pushing hard into it. So for instance, the progress we've made now is that we used to have an association called the Bamboo Stakeholders of Nigeria. So if you're just interested on bamboo, we put you in that group. But through that group, we worked sort of after the meeting in Kenya, we came back to Nigeria because there were a lot of things holding us back to meet the international standard because our nation, Nigeria, has not recognized bamboo as one of the sole means of trading. So because of that, when we came back, we formed an association called the National Bamboo Farmers Processors and Marketers of Nigeria. And through that, we've been able to register with the federal ministry of industry, trade and investment currently. So I think through that means we'll get a lot of awareness then people will buy into it. All right, fine. So how lucrative is this business, maybe in terms of the finished product and what would you advise for startups, for people who have like-minded, who may want to get on board on this trend? So for me, I would say that first of all, it's passion because why do I say it's passion? Because when I started it, it was like people didn't know about it. So when you talk about it, it's like you're weird, you know. But over time, we're gaining more visibility now. So I would say first of all, it has to be passion if you're interested about it because the bamboo market, like I said earlier on, is very huge because you can use bamboo as food, you can use bamboo to make clothing, you know. Oh yeah, it has fiber in it. No, because it has fiber. If you look at it, it has strong. So through some chemical processes using enzyme as catalyst, it converts those fibers to wood and you can use it as clodding, you can use it as energy material, you can use it pretty much in all industries. So for me, people have to, we have to create more awareness out there. So maybe we have to start having like exhibitions. Yeah, exhibitions and then partnering with other ministries. So how can government play in this in terms of standardization and in terms of maybe giving a playground, a fair playground for business people like you to try very quickly in 30 seconds. Yeah, so I think we are now in a good track or in a good place now because initially we're not doing stuff like that. But now that we've been registered officially with the Ministry of Industry, Trading and Marketing, you know, investment, I believe that through that means we'll be able to gain more visibility, more ground and more people on board. And obviously it will have a good effect on the economic growth of Nigeria. Right, that's why I wish you all the best in the endeavor. And I just have trust that with the visibility that is on the ground, Nigerians will begin to appreciate that. And of course, I will do so well because there's a whole lot to explore and so much money that the country or indeed the continent can make from this particular sector. We do appreciate your time and thank you for joining us on the show. Thank you so much for having me. All right, I have been speaking with my guest that she is a guy, a founder, social and environmental entrepreneur, and she founded Ladybubble Limited and she is actually great in that line. And of course Nigerians should start appreciating, you know, what that particular sector can bring to the continent. But that's the size of the show for today. I am Justin Akademi, and thanks for watching. We'll return again tomorrow, specifically, we'll be looking at the CBN exchange rate before its regime and what's going on. We're doing a whole lot of explanation on that. You just want to join us with that one. Bye for now.