The Federal Government says it will soon recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and strengthen it so that it would be able to extend credit facilities to small and medium scale farmers at around 7 percent interest rate.
This is as Audu Ogbeh, agriculture minister, commended the chairman of the Nigeria AgricBusiness Group (NABG) Sani Dangote for his contribution towards the development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. Sani Dangote is the vice president of the Dangote Group.
Speaking at AGRIKEXPO/NABG conference Monday in Abuja, Audu Ogbeh, agriculture minister, said Dangote’s NABG and Dangote Group were making farming attractive and wooing investors at the same time, while the Dangote Group had invested enormously and created jobs across the value chain.
Ogbeh said despite the fact that the agricultural sector was the biggest employer of labour and largest contributor to the GDP, the country was yet to maximise its potentials as less than 40 percent of the arable lands were being cultivated.
The minister said the theme of the three-day conference: ‘From Food Oil to Crude Oil,’ was apt in the light of the need to diversify the economy.
The minister said in about 30 years time the Nigerian population would be in the region of 500 million people, while the world’s population would hit 10 billion, adding that there was need to prepare ahead.
The government is planning a Farmers Day where farmers will be appreciated and rewarded, he said, saying also that the government was collaborating with relevant international agencies to bring back Extension Services.
Speaking, Sani Dangote said the NABG was an association for all associations and stakeholders in the agricultural sector, as the NABG was interacting with the public sector to revive the agric sector.
He urged Nigerians to look at the current economic problem as an opportunity to invest in the agricultural sector.
Also speaking, Emmanuel Ijewere, coordinator of the NABG, said it was possible for Nigeria to retrace its steps back to agriculture, “while the NABG as a private sector group is trying to ensure that the entire value chain is carried along. Everybody needs everybody in the agriculture value chain.”
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
