Kyari: Nigeria Ready to Work with Saudi Arabia to Develop Agriculture

* Saudi delegation weighs incentives to set up locally

James Emejo in Abuja

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, yesterday declared that the country remained open and ready for business with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly in agriculture and related sub-fields.
The minister said the administration of president Bola Tinubu has a key priority to boost production and productivity with a keen eye on value addition to its diverse produce.

Kyari spoke at the investment roundtable between the Saudi Arabia delegation led by the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Alfadley, and the Nigerian Agro-allied Business Community in Abuja.
This came as the Saudi delegation promised to support the current administration’s effort aimed at food self-sufficiency.
Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen said, “We also believe that the challenge on food self-sufficiency is your ability to produce it at a lower cost compared to what comes from the outside.

“We do realise that food availability and access are becoming top of the agenda for all countries and we do believe that Nigeria has comparative advantages and appreciates the need to invest wisely in agriculture.”
However, he said Saudi investors would assess the incentives on ground that could encourage its businesses to set up in Nigeria in a mutually benefitting outcome to all stakeholders.  

The minister, while hoping that the forum would lead to the signing, sealing and delivery of deals beneficial to both countries, noted that the forum was a logical outcome of the economic diplomacy being championed by President Bola Tinubu.
He pointed out that the President had laid out clearly investment opportunities in Nigeria as well as the comfort for investors, by way of steadily improving levels of ease of doing business and a range of fiscal and other incentives.
Tinubu, was at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Saudi Arabia which was his second business visit to the kingdom in six months.
Earlier, while receiving the delegation in his of office, the minister noted that both countries have had strong and healthy bilateral relationships that dated back several centuries on account of the common ties, particularly in culture and religion as well as the informal economic transactions that also take place between their people.

Kyari said Nigeria was desirous of a share in the agri-market of Saudi Arabia – the leading economy in the Middle East – to surpass the current volume of agri-trade as provided by available figures particularly in sesame, cashew, ginger, soyabean, wheat, maize, palm oil, animal feed among others.
He said, “In prioritising agriculture and food security, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has left no one in doubt as to his willingness and readiness to accommodate a range of ideas that can sustainably develop and encourage investments in the sector.

“This explains why the FMAFS sits on the nation’s Economic Management Team and regularly briefs the National Economic Council which coordinates the economic policies at both the national and the subnational level, thereby ensuring proper streamlining of policies and initiatives.
“Our approach of incorporating immediate, short, medium, and long term timelines in our strategic work plan is to rapidly develop Nigerian agriculture.”
The minister said the federal government’s focus was to attain continuous cropping all-year-round in both the dry and wet seasons which are the two major climatic seasons in the country, adding that wheat remained a major crop of focus in 15 of the federation in the last dry season.
He said, “I should also stress that we are gradually infusing mechanization into our agricultural production, enlisting known and reputable agricultural equipment manufacturers from across the globe.

“As part of our livestock modernization programme, about which the current administration is equally very passionate, there abound huge potential for investments in ranching, breed improvement, feed and pasture development as well as value addition especially in the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) that have been delineated across the country for crops and livestock development.”
He said the current administration remained committed to further expanding the investment space in the economy, stressing that agriculture was getting stronger as the government amassed greater confidence across the world with renewed assurances of making the country more investment friendly with an unrelenting emphasis on ease of doing business.

This, he said, would open a wide door for mutual benefits for well-meaning investors from Saudi Arabia.

The minister said, “Let me underscore that a major significance of this visit is that these are very interesting times for our two countries. We have watched with keen interest the widely applauded reforms being undertaken by His Royal Highness, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, ably assisted by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

“The social and economic dimensions of these far-reaching reforms are truly pleasing to the friends of the kingdom across the globe.”