By Harrison Edeh
ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Worried by the decline in non-oil exports and amidst dwindling oil resources , the Federal Government is taking a determined step to convince investors to explore investment opportunities in the Agricultural Commodity Exchange to boost agricultural business and for sustainable development.
Omololu Opeewe, acting perrmanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, while assuring investors of opportunities in the sector noted that: “Nigeria’s appreciation in agricultural produce exposes opportunities for Agricultural Commodity Exchange which was the catalyst for Chinese Industrialisation.”
Omololu, who spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission,( NIPC) Stakeholders Investment Forum For Strategic Agricultural Commodities, said: “There is no going back on zero oil policy by the present administration, as it looks for alternative ways of diversifying the economy through the non-oil sector.
Notably, Nigeria Commodity Exchange is a spot exchange that trades standardised commodity contracts is an end-to-end integrated system of decentralised trading,warehousing,qaulity certification of commodities, clearing, settlement and delivery.
President Muhammadu Buhari had during his inaugural speech singled out agriculture as a major tool for sustainable development.
Against this backdrop, Uju Hassan Baba, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, said the NIPC has evolved strategy to advance investment in various aspects of the nation’s economy.
She explained that the sector would keep promoting economic linkages and technology transfer between major projects and smaller businesses to boost employment and wealth creation.
Also, Zaheera Baba-Ari, the Managing director of Nigeria’s Commodity and Exchange,said the Federal Government should create soft landing for investors with supportive policies.
She said the “Federal Government should expedite action on repairing commodity warehouses across the country which are in disrepair. Also,they should create a legal framework to ensure investors have a template to invest on.,and having a mandatory course for farmers to properly participate in the process”.
She added that Ethiopia is on the verge of attaining food self-sufficiency in agriculture due largely to enabling laws that had sustained its commodity exchange and has been rewarding and has created wealth for its farmers.
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Despite Nigeria’s over dependence on oil resources, the non-oil sector which currently contributes $2.7 billion to the GDP still yearns for investment in cassava, sweet potato, chilli pepper, coffee, groundnut, pineapple, yam flower, cashew nuts, as the Federal Government intensifies effort through the Standard Organisation of Nigeria to ensure that Nigerian products break into European markets as regards international certification standards.