Tuesday 17 May 2016

FNCCI HOLDS SUMMIT TO EXPOSE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NIGERIA AGRIBUSINESS SPACE



The Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in its bid to foster trade and investment relations between France and Nigeria on Tuesday 25th April, 2016 held a 1-day Business summit at the food of sun hall of the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Tagged: NIGERIA BEYOND OIL; A FOCUS ON THE NIGERIAN AGRIBUSINESS SPACE.
The event was attended by the Consul General of the French Consulate Mr. Laurent Polonceaux, The Chairman of the Nigerian Agribusiness Group (NABG) Alhaji Sani Dangote, Dr. Emmanuel Ijewere, Coordinator NABG, representatives from the Association pour le Developpement des Echanges internationaux de Produits et Techniques Agroalimentaire”(ADEPTA) from France, and other key stakeholders in the Nigerian Agribusiness space.

The objective of the summit as stated by the Corporate Affairs representative of the Chamber, Mr. Moses Umoru is to appraise the fortunes and potentials of the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy in line with the focus of the present administration in strengthening the neglected agricultural sector.

The Consul General in his welcome address stated that “Nigeria has over 80percent of its land viable for agricultural produce but uses less than 30percent. Given, is the reason why Nigeria is not self-sufficient in the area of food production”. He stated his confidence in the new administration of president Buhari and the drive to diversify the economy with strong focus in the area of agriculture.

 Alhaji Sani Dangote in his opening remarks emphasized that the dwindling fortune of the Nigerian oil price at this critical time and other economic realities facing the present administration has made the diversification agenda inevitable. He stress that Nigeria can attain food sufficiency if the present administration would continue in its drive to promoting agriculture and making it attractive for foreign investors. Dr. Emmanuel Ijewere, the coordinator of the NABG in his opening remarks stated that the French are the best farmers in the world and will help the country achieve its full potentials in its drive to improve its agriculture. “I think we will take this partnership with the French to the end of the road because they are one of the best farmers in the world and are also known as one of the most efficient in Europe. This opportunity we have is a continuation of what President Buhari signed as that was the first country he visited when he became president and he took the agricultural community along. Both presidents, Francois Hollande and Buhari insisted that private sectors in the industry must come together as they signed the agreement last year, he explained.

The representative from ADEPTA spoke on the partnership France is having with Nigeria in the area of agriculture which was sealed last year with the ADEPTA NABG agreement and the role France is playing in promoting cheap mechanized solutions for farmers in Nigeria.

Paper presentations were delivered by Dr. Kuforiji Afolabi; Dean Faculty of Agriculture, Federal polytechnic Bayelsa on THE REBIRTH OF AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA , Dr. Sola Aliu; CEO Staolar Center for Entrepreneurship on INTRGRATED FARMING AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, Tokunbo Habeeb; Lagos State coordinator RMRDC on THE ROLE OF RMRDC IN PROMOTING AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA.

The event was rounded off by a question and answer session where critical questions were asked by the participants on Agriculture in Nigeria.

Written by The Speakpreneur Content Team

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