LCFE, commodities brokers laud Nigeria’s food importation directive

Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) and top commodities brokers have applauded the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the recent directive, mandating companies to channel the importation of basic food items through commodities exchanges.

The new directive, which is expected to enhance price discovery, reduce inflationary pressures, and boost food security for the nation, provides that at least 75 percent of basic food imported items by companies, be sold through recognised commodities exchanges, with all transactions and storage recorded.

Akin Akeredolu-Ale, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, LCFE while responding to the new policy, described it as a government’s proactive approach to streamlining the importation process. According to him, it will benefit stakeholders across the value chain.

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“Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange is ready and eager to play a pivotal role in facilitating seamless transactions and contributing to the overall success of this initiative. We pledge our support and cooperation for this initiative. We are already working closely with regulatory bodies and other stakeholders in the value chain to ensure seamless implementation. We have infrastructure that will guarantee the smooth implementation of this policy.

“At the basic level, Commodities trading ensures that food products are efficiently distributed across the country by matching supply with demand. This helps to standardise quality, stabilise prices, reduce volatility, and make food affordable for consumers”, Akeredolu -Ale added.

Sam Onukwue, Chief Executive Officer, Mega Equities urged the government to extend the policy to the exportation of all food items to address forex scarcity in Nigeria.

Read also: For Nigeria, food importation has become inevitable

“It signifies the government’s determination towards the success of its food security programme by ensuring that scare forex for imports is properly utilised and well accounted for. We expect the government to extend the policy to exportation of all proceeds. This is what we have been advocating for all the while. It will not only address the current forex scarcity but enhance the GDP”, Onukwue said.

Kehinde Hassan, Chief Operating Officer, GTI Group also applauded the policy as timely. He stated: “To further boost confidence in this policy, the government should collaborate with the key stakeholders in the ecosystem by developing a policy framework, rules, regulations and sanctions for erring stakeholders. There is a need for an enabling environment from the government for this policy to stand the test of time.”

Olusheye Olusoga, Group Managing Director, Parthian Partners advocated the need to encourage farmers to increase their output. ” The government’s decision to import and waive some charges on imports is targeted at alleviating pressures on the citizenry in the short term. In order to boost the supply of the commodities and reduction in prices, efforts should be made to encourage the farmers to continue to grow their produce as the population of over 200 million cannot survive on importation”, he said.