Nigeria hopes to reach a deal with China within weeks to set up 40 rice mills, its new agriculture minister said, as part of plans to eliminate the need for any imports of the grain within two years.
Audu Ogbeh said in his first interview since taking office last week that Africa’s top oil exporter wants to boost production of tomatoes, soy beans, nuts and plant two million cocoa trees to reduce an annual food import bill of $20 billion and create jobs for its impoverished youth.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in May on a campaign to usher in a new era for a country hit by corruption and mismanagement, wants to boost the agricultural sector and end reliance on oil exports after a plunge in crude prices.
That will be an uphill challenge as pot-holed roads hamper the transport of goods. Nigeria has tens of millions of farmers but the vast majority of them work on a subsistence basis and live on less than $2 a day.
As a first step, the new government hopes to reach by year end a deal with China to import equipment to build rice mills, Ogbeh said late on Thursday.
“The federal government plans 40 mills with the Chinese spread across the country, each capable of milling 100 tonnes per day,” Ogbeh said.
He declined to give more details on the talks, which began under the previous administration led by President Jonathan. Chinese state media and a Nigerian government document obtained by Reuters have said the oil producer was talking to China’s state Import and Export Bank.
Ogbeh said Nigeria wanted to be self-sufficient in wheat in three years, confirming a Reuters report earlier this month citing a confidential government paper.
No comments:
Post a Comment