FG woos investors to tackle food insecurity

The Federal Government is seeking the collaboration of the private sector to help address the country’s agricultural production challenges.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mohammad Abubakar, stated this via a video presentation at the Food and Energy Security in Africa Conference in Lagos, organised by White & Case in collaboration with the African Development Bank and Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority on Friday.

“The private sector holds the key to unlocking much of Nigeria’s agricultural potential. By investing in advanced technologies, modern infrastructure, and value-added processing, businesses can drive transformative change. Yet, we understand that investing in agriculture comes with its inherent risks.

“To address this, the Federal Government is committed to creating an enabling environment through policy reforms and de-risking mechanisms. We are working closely with development partners and financial institutions to provide credit guarantees, insurance schemes, and blended finance solutions. Our goal is to lower the barriers to entry and create a stable investment climate that equities long-term commitments from private sector actors,” he explained.

According to the minister, investors can explore opportunities in renewable energy solutions for agriculture, such as solar power irrigation and coal storage facilities, which address the dual challenge of energy and food security.

“Today, I call upon all stakeholders – government, development and financial institutions, private sector partners, and civil society – to unite in the spirit of collaboration. No single entity can solve the food security challenge alone.

“We must pool our resources, share our expertise, and work together to create a resilient and inclusive agricultural sector. Let us commit to turning our shared vision into action, ensuring that our citizens have access to affordable and nutritious food,” Abubakar added.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, noted that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration had been promoting the rule of law because the rule of law and economic development were intertwined.

“The issue of the rule of law and economic development are intertwined. One serves as a basis for the other.  But I want to say that the rule of law is a situation in which everything is prescribed to be followed according to rules and procedures.

“Purely, that is the rule of law. And that when any decision is handed down, either by tribunal, authority, or the court, everybody must follow it. So if anybody is going to come and make an investment in Nigeria or anywhere, for that matter, he wants to know what the position is in respect to or regarding the rule of law,” he noted.

According to the Partner and Head of Africa Practice, White & Case LLP. Deji Adegoke, Africa has 60 per cent of the world’s arable farmland, and agriculture employs 70 per cent of the population of the continent.

“However, Africa only contributes 10 per cent to global agricultural output. So, 60 per cent of the arable land but only 10 per cent of output. This is a very worrying and disastrous situation and something we really need to address,” he stated.

He noted that a lot of funding was required to bridge the agricultural investment gap in the continent.

“I don’t want to pick up any individual names but I know IFC are here today I would like to urge our IFC colleagues to be much more actively involved across the value chain but particularly in Nigeria, the agriculture space,” he added.

Nigeria has been grappling with soaring food prices, which  to almost 40 per cent year-on-year in October from 37.77 per cent in the previous month, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

The country’s inflation rate surged to 33.9 per cent in October from 32.7 per cent in September on the back of high food prices.

The President and Chief Executive Officer of the African Development Bank, Samaila Zubairu, remarked that achieving food security in Nigeria was a profound mission and required all stakeholders to contribute not only their expertise but also their commitment to actions.

“Nigeria has immense agricultural potential, with approximately 70.8 million hectares of agricultural land, out of which 34 million hectares can be classed as arable land. So that means it is not being developed.

“In addition, the agricultural sector employs over 25 million people, representing around 30 per cent of the total workforce, while contributing not about 20 per cent of our GDP. It is a significant aspect of the economy with the potential to drive Nigeria’s aspirations to become. I keep saying that Nigeria is a $1tn economy waiting to happen, and it is true,” he declared.

He called for concerted efforts to tackle the food security challenge in Nigeria because the pressure of insecurity in the Sahel would come down to Nigeria.

The AFC boss, therefore, urged Nigeria must incorporate the neighbouring countries in its food systems planning.

“We can do it. We have the land, we have the people, and we also have institutions, because we have had several institutions that have been built to support agricultural production. For some reason, we have kind of not managed to put it together.

“And I feel part of what we want to do going forward with this joint venture is to convene all the parties and actors together in a room so that we can dimension challenges and come up with actionable solutions that we can work with.

“So, unlocking the potential is however only possible through investments in infrastructure, logistics, and value-added processes necessary to support agricultural productivity. Transform Nigeria into a good cultural powerhouse and drive economic resilience in the country and by exception, the West African region,” Zubairu pounded.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq, disclosed that the organization had been working with development partners like the AFC to promote backward integration in fertilizer production and renewable energy solution development.

“And within the agriculture space, you may have known about seven years ago, NSIA became the project managers for an initiative called Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, and that is a simple backward integration strategy for the local production and supply of NPG in Nigeria, so that as opposed to importing blended NPG and in the process exporting jobs, in the process putting pressure on our foreign exchange.

“What NSIA set out to do was to import the raw materials that were unobtainable in Nigeria, which is the phosphate and the potash, to source the raw materials that are obtainable in Nigeria, which is the urea and the limestone and to resuscitate either moribund blending plants or undertaking a competitive game,” he remarked.