Health experts say that the human body needs between 40 and 50 nutrients to thrive. These are not found in regular foods and drinks. Often, ‘Food supplements’ or nutritional supplements are needed.
Using ‘Food supplements’ is a modern way to get nutrients from about 10 plant species but are contained in a single tablet or a single tablespoon of powder.
It is a method that is widely used in developed countries, where a person who wants different types of seeds, including those that cannot be easily found in ‘Food supplements’.
In Rwanda, there is only one company that produces these nutritional supplements in a modern way known as ANARECO Ltd (Alpha Natural Resources Company). It was started by Dr.Eng. Manirafasha Emmanuel who is committed to developing foods that can be considered as drugs that do not harm the body.
He is one of Rwanda’s leading scientists in the fields of Biology and Chemistry, especially in developing medicines that stimulate the body based on natural resources.
This scientist studied in China at one of the world’s leading universities, where he obtained a PhD. He has various ‘formulas’ that he has developed for various projects.
The Chinese government has promised him many things, including a small amount of money, to implement them, but he has been reluctant to bring them to Rwanda.
Using what he has learned, he has developed a ‘formula’ of how to combine different plants to make nutritional supplements that can help people get all the nutrients contained in a pill or a spoonful of powder. They are products that help the body to have the right strength and have the ability to eliminate waste properly.
The ‘formula’ he created was requested by China, which allowed him to give him $5 million, and various other things as a citizen, including giving him properties in China and others, but he was stubborn, he returned home and started doing it in Rwanda.
Dr.Eng. Manirafasha’s refusal of this money is based on the fact that he found that his ‘formula’ has the potential to generate more money than he was given, and would even benefit Rwanda as his country of origin.
Among the nutritional supplements he discovered is known as ‘METABOOSTA’ which is made in a way that combines 12 plants that contain both those found in Rwanda and those not found there.
It contains legumes, grains, vegetables, and fruits, which contain all the nutrients. It includes banana flour, pumpkin flour, pear flour, wheat flour, and others.
It also includes another dietary supplement known as ‘MetabAsta’ which is made in the form of capsules. This large capsule dissolves in the intestines to prevent stomach acid from destroying it, and then helps the body produce energy.
This is how Dr.Eng. Manirafasha uses advanced technology, all of which he has done through the ANARECO Ltd. factory.
The Chinese realized that this man refused to sell them his ‘formula’, so they agreed to help them in the sea farming project, and he allowed him to use their advanced laboratories that are not accessible to other foreigners, to do his work.
METABOOSTa is used, a person takes two spoons and puts them in water and mixes them, and drinks them like tea and no sugar is needed because it has been given a natural way to replace it.
It is taken before taking any other things. MetabAsta is taken two tablets in the morning and evening after meals.
A 250-gram pack of METABOOSTa costs 20 thousand Frw. However, if you go to find all the ingredients elsewhere, the price can exceed 400 thousand Frw because elsewhere they do not package them in one product but offer different packs.
For MetabAsta, if you go elsewhere and they package each nutrient separately (nutrients, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, etc.), you could pay 800 thousand Rwf, while at ANARECO Ltd the end consumer will pay 40 thousand Rwf for a bottle containing 60 tablets. At the factory, the price will be lower.
Because he needs something that is not available in Rwanda, Dr.Eng. Manirafasha goes to China to a major factory with advanced technology in the country, and they even signed an agreement to provide him with many types of plant flour, which he then mixes in Rwanda with a dedicated machine with a capacity of mixing 400 kilos.
In an interview with IGIHE, Dr.Eng. Manirafasha said that he has a plan to export 80% of what he makes abroad.
He continued by saying that “we mix the flour with ingredients such as pears, pumpkins, chia seeds, dates, processed bananas, yellow wheat, and 12 other things, so that when you take a spoonful of flour, you will have each type without missing any. That is what METABOOSTa is all about.”
At MetabAsta, they import small capsules that are inserted empty, and then the machines in ANARECO, one fills the powder, another seals the capsule, another cleans it and checks that it is full of grams, another puts it in bottles, it goes into another, counts it, a bottle is filled and pushed into another, and so on until the bottle comes out. It is done in a blink of an eye.
He said, “When it is finished, we install a technological label that prevents counterfeiters from copying us, and then it is taken to the market. Our label has a QR Code that you can take a picture of and see our information in audio form.”
Dr. Eng. Manirafasha said that he plans various projects, such as developing modern poultry farming with natural nutrients, making fertilizers that improve the soil, farming in water and plans to work with various institutions and universities.
Among these projects, this scientist plans to expand this factory, and to produce what he imports in Rwanda because he also has the formulas used to make it.
He expects that in the next three years, ANARECO will be a large factory that includes 12 small factories that produce products in METABOOSTa.
He said, “We want to develop the industry. In three years, we will have achieved it. In three years, we will have more than 3,000 employees.”
The machine that makes MetabAsta produces 400 capsules per minute. Another one they have ordered will arrive soon and will produce 1,000 tablets per minute, while the one planned for the larger factory will have a capacity to produce 10,000 per minute.
He said, “We are currently scouting the land. In that factory there will be a research section, a manufacturing section. A laboratory to test our products and so on.”
