News
Nigeria’s food importation policy could destroy country’s agriculture, warns Akinwumi Adesina
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group has said the decision by Nigeria’s government to allow massive food importation risks destroying the country’s agriculture.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
This follows the announcement by Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture Abubakar Kyari on July 10 that the Federal Government would suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through the country’s land and sea borders, for 150 days.
“Nigeria’s recently announced policy to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing,” Adesina told African Primates of the Anglican Church at a Retreat in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday.
He warned that the policy could undermine all the hard work and private investments that have gone into Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
“Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilize prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilize food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilize the Naira,” said the African Development Bank president.
“Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity,” he said, “Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation.”
Speaking on the theme ‘Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church’, Adesina said Nigeria “must feed itself with pride,” warning, “a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.”
Faith and food security
The clergymen assembled in Abuja under the umbrella of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), representing more than 40 million Anglicans across the continent.
In his opening remarks, the host, His Grace the Most Reverend Henry C. Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), said the gathering was a unique opportunity for African Anglican leaders to deepen bonds of friendship and collaboration, and to share collective wisdom and experiences.
The chairperson of the event, Emeritus Nigerian Professor of Science Education, Olugbemiro Jegede, told Adesina: “You have the whole of Africa represented here. Every Primate represents a region. Behind these Primates are millions and millions of Anglicans who are listening to us here.”
Noting that Africa accounts for nearly a third of the more than 780 million people worldwide who are hungry, the African Development Bank president said agriculture is critical for the diversification of economies, and for the transformation of rural areas, where over 70 percent of the population of Africa live. “It is clear therefore that unless we transform agriculture, Africa cannot eliminate poverty,” he insisted.
Adesina said Africa has 65 percent of the uncultivated arable land left in the world, to feed 9.5 billion people by 2050. Therefore, what Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food in the world. “Essentially, food is money. The size of the food and agriculture market in Africa will reach $1 trillion by 2030.”
Transformational strides
Adesina briefed the Primates on the Bank’s $25 billion program to transform agriculture by providing high performing agricultural technologies for 40 million farmers and making Africa food self-sufficient by 2030.
He shared the Bank’s successes in helping member countries tackle the negative effects of climate change, through financial investments and its flagship Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program.
According to the Bank president, TAAT has helped Ethiopia to become a net exporter of wheat within five years, and it has significantly increased Sudan’s wheat production, as well as supported countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to continue producing food in the face of a prolonged drought.
For Nigeria, Adesina said, “Together with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, we have provided $520 million to support the establishment of Special Agricultural Processing Zones, which will allow private agribusinesses to establish industries that process and add value to agricultural commodities.”
In addition, the Bank provided $134 million to Nigeria for emergency food production to help drive down food price inflation, by significantly boosting the local production of wheat, and cassava, under the national Agricultural Growth Scheme.
Adesina urged the Nigerian government to take advantage of the Bank’s investments and support for African farmers; show greater determination and commitment to achieving food self-sufficiency, and to incentivize private sector agribusinesses.
To support Africa’s ambitions to move up the global agricultural value chains, the African Development Bank Group and its partners, are supporting the development of 28 Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) l in 11 countries, with $4.5 billion dollars mobilized so far.
Speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa and Bishop of Northern Zambia, the Most Reverend Albert Chama, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Most Reverend Dr. Jackson Ole Sapit, called for greater cooperation between the Bank Group and the Anglican Church.
“The African mind must be at the center of solving African problems. If the African Development Bank mobilizes resources for the African continent, and the Church also mobilizes resources for holistic transformation, we can achieve a lot working together – and make a difference,” Ole Sapit said.
The church as a change agent
Proposing solutions for agriculture in Africa, Adesina said the world desperately needs “visionary and passionate leaders who are strategic solution providers and transformational change makers.”
This includes, he said, public advocacy for robust government policies to end hunger and malnutrition, complemented by church-led food banks and other social protection programs for the poor and needy; investing in commercial farms, especially in rural areas; advocacy on issues of climate change; supporting and encouraging young Africans to engage in agricultural entrepreneurship; and demanding greater financial accountability, public probity, and better financial management from governments.
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) have initiated discussions on strategies for capacity building in the maritime industry.
Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Director General of NIMASA, represented by the Executive Director of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr. Jibril Abba disclosed this during a visit by the management of the bank led by Executive Director of Large Enterprises, Mrs. Ifeoma Uz’Okpala.
Osagie Edward, the agency’s Head of Public Relations, said in a statement that in addition to safety, security and maritime labour, the agency’s mandate encompasses capacity development aimed at growing the sector.
Also, Mobereola explained that NIMASA’s commitment to collaboration was a vital tool for achieving its mandate.
He said: “The aim is to actualise the vision of the Federal Government to reposition the maritime sector, especially with the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.”
Also, Uz’Okpala affirmed the bank’s readiness to support NIMASA, emphasising the importance of collaboration in implementing a robust capacity-building initiative that would contribute to economic growth in Nigeria.
She noted: “Bank of Industry Limited is Nigeria’s oldest and largest Development Finance Institution (DFI) currently in operation. It is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Nigeria (94.80 per cent), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (5.19 per cent) and private shareholders (0.01 per cent).
The federal government’s aggregate receipt of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Q2 2024, stood at N1.56 trillion, indicating a growth rate of 9.11 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis from N1.43 trillion in Q1 2024.
The figure represents a 99.82 per cent increase compared to the N781.35 billion collected in the corresponding quarter of last year.
According to numbers released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the Q2 VAT rose by 9.11 per cent from N1.43 trillion in Q1 2024.
The data showed that local VAT payments recorded were N792.58 billion, foreign VAT payments stood at N395.74 billion, while import VAT contributed N372.95 billion in Q2 2024.
Analysis of the NBS numbers showed that human health and social work activities recorded the highest growth rate with 98.44 per cent, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 70.26 per cent, and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with 59.75 per cent.
Contrarily, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use had the lowest growth rate with –46.84 per cent, followed by real estate activities with –42.59 per cent.
In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three largest shares in Q2 2024 were manufacturing with 11.78 per cent; information and communication with 9.02 per cent; and mining and quarrying with 8.79 per cent.
“Nevertheless, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.00 percent, followed by activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies with 0.01 per cent; and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with and Real Estate Services 0.04 per cent each.
“However, on a year-on-year basis, VAT collections in Q2 2024 increased by 99.82 per cent from Q2 2023,” NBS stated.
Partners for the eighth annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) have begun to emerge with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Emadeb Group and Dangote Group leading the train of partners for the event slated for Thursday, October 3, 2024 at the Reverton Hotel, GRA Lokoja, Kogi State.
The chairman of the 2024 Conference Planning Committee, Danlami Nmodu, mni, also listed other partners to include Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Setraco Nigeria Limited, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), according to a statement by
GOCOP Publicity Secretary, Sir Remmy Nweke.
Nmodu was also quoted as saying that the eighth conference would center on the theme: “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit, and Transitioning to Digital Economy” and will hold on Thursday, October 3, 2024 from 10am. The keynote will be delivered by former governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyle Imoke.
Read Also: Imoke, Buratai, Maida, others to headline GOCOP 2024 conference in Kogi
Additional partners for 2024, he said, comprised the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, Access Bank plc, Zenith Bank plc, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Fidelity Bank plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (STI), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).
A major highlight of this year’s conference, Nmodu said, is a business luncheon with GOCOP partners on Wednesday, 2 October, at the same venue, while the conference itself would hold on Thursday, October 3.
Nmodu noted that the 8th edition would be chaired by former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Alhaji Yusuf Mamman, with the former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Retd) and the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida as Guest Speakers, while a Professor of Political Science at the Federal University Lokoja, Prof. Rotimi Ajayi and an edutainment communicator and veteran broadcaster, Ms Debrah M. Ogazuma are panellists.
Nmodu recalled that GOCOP conference 2023 was chaired by the JAMB Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede, while the first Nigerian Professor of Capital Market, Prof. Uchenna Joseph Uwaleke was the keynote speaker.
Previous speakers at the annual conference consisted of Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto who delivered the 2019 lecture on “Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward.”
In 2021, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, keynoted the Conference in his capacity as Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19. He spoke on: “Post Covid-19 Pandemic: Recovery and Reconstruction in Nigeria.”
In 2022, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, delivered the keynote entitled “2023 Elections: Managing the Process for Credible Outcome.”
GOCOP was established to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism.
Membership of the Guild is a constellation of editors and senior journalists who, having distinguished themselves in their various positions in the print and electronic media, ventured into online publishing which is both the present and future of journalism globally.
The Guild has over 104 corporate publishers as members.
SEC Says 50 Crypto Exchanges have Applied for Licenses
CBN Orders PoS Operators to Route all Transactions through NIBSS or UPSL
Reps Panel Asks GTBank to Remit VAT on Remita Transactions to FG
Big Larry, Nollywood Actor is Dead
NIMASA, BOI Partner to Grow Capacity In Maritime Sector
NDIC Plans to Liquidate 87 Microfinance Banks, Others
Introducing TECNO POP9: The Smartphone That Redefines Affordability
NIN: NCC Tightens Loose Ends, Introduce Self-Help Measure
SMEDAN Inks MoU with NIPOST to Offer 15% Logistics Discount to SMEs
ALX Nigeria Moves Over 12,000 Youths Closer to Jobs in Six Months
E-Financial3 days agoCourt Freezes N548.6m of Nigerian Crypto Users over Naira Fluctuation
E-Business2 days agoFour Nigerian Start-ups Selected for NBA Africa Startup Accelerator’ Demo Day
Telecom3 days agoHuawei’s Tri-Foldable Phone Stirs Chinese Pride but $2,800 Price Tag Panned
E-Financial3 days agoUBA Appoints Nweke, Deputy Managing Director
Telecom3 days agoMTN, Accenture Conclude OpenRAN Trial as It Eyes Network Shift
Telecom3 days agoStarlink Boosts Traffic for Rural Nigerian Cell Sites 45 Percent – AMN
News2 days agoSiBAN Sacks Obinna Iwuno, Its National President Over Abuse of Power
E-Business3 days agoPrivate Malware to Ransomware-as-a-Service: the Rise of Mallox