About 60-70% of the investment commitments made by the private sector in the past four years in agriculture in Nigeria have come from domestic investors with international investors making up the difference. This was disclosed by the Arc Sonny Echono, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture at the first AGM of Nigeria Agribusiness Group NABG, held in Lagos.
The NABG is a high powered organised private sector group comprising all value chain stakeholders, from farmer associations and farmer cooperatives to input suppliers to aggregators, food processors, logistics, packaging, and Commercial Banks among others.
Arc Sonny Echono disclosed that sixteen members of the NABG have promised to invest $1.8 billion ( NGN 360 billion) into agriculture and agribusiness across 22 States of Nigeria.
He said turning these commitments into real investments will undoubtedly help to create jobs for our teeming youth population and women and help to lift millions of farmers out of poverty. Arc Sonny Echono noted that the engine of growth of any economy is the private sector, “unfortunately, for decades agriculture was treated as a development program, with dominance of government, in many cases crowding out the private sector.
“We have ended the dominance of government and I am optimistic that the private sector will lead Nigeria in restoring its past glory in agriculture. “
He continued “On this ground, we are together inaugurating the Agribusiness Investment Inter-Ministerial (AIM) Working Group today as a show of our commitment in delivery on our promise to facilitate your investments from early stage and throughout the investment life cycle.
“The AIM Working Group, our Project Delivery Team will help to facilitate your investments and help to turn your commitments into real investments.” The Agriculture Ministry’s Permanent Secretary explained that the agricultural landscape in Nigeria has been transformed and well positioned to diversify the economy away from oil and gas towards agricultural industrialization.
“At the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, we are treating agriculture as a business by attracting private sector investors to invest in Nigeria’s agricultural economy.” He added that their strategic partnership is gaining recognition across Africa, as they position Nigeria to lead Africa’s agricultural transformation.
Arc Sonny Echono said the government is working to remove the constraints identified to be hampering the growth of agriculture in the country like infrastructure, finance, government regulations and land among others.
“We are leveraging Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) and Nigerian Incentive Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and Funds for Agricultural Financing in Nigeria (FAFIN) for financing.” He added “We are leveraging the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) and Agribusiness Investment Regions (ABIR) to ensure security of supply of raw materials.” The PS said the Nigerian Agribusiness Group can help in these areas, by articulating the position of private sector agribusinesses on matters relating to policies, legal and regulatory environments.
