Nigeria’s economic diversification achieving positive results – Minister

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has declared that Federal Government’s diversification agenda was achieving positive results with recent growth in National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) driven by the non-oil sectors.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo made this known in his address on Thursday at the second virtual Andersen Africa-Europe Bridge Conference.

According to a statement by Special Assistant to the minister, Mr Ifedayo Sayo, this year’s Africa-Europe Sustainable Development Bridge Conference centred on policy and its economic effects on agribusiness in various countries.

“As you are aware, Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, with a steadily growing GDP of over 500 billion dollars per capita is expected to reach 2,300 dollars by the end of 2021.

“This is over 84 per cent higher than the Africa average.

“Despite the view that Nigeria’s economy has historically been driven by oil, recent growth has been driven primarily by the non-oil sectors, such as financial services, telecommunications, entertainment, and of course agriculture.

“This shows that our diversification agenda is working,” he said.

Though the Minister noted that last year was a difficult year for all economies, he said the country’s economy was getting back strong and open for business with the investment climate improving.

Adebayo recalled that in the first half of 2021, investment announcements were at 10.1 billion dollars, an increase of 100 per cent in 2020.

He noted that investors from places as diverse as Europe, China, Morocco, and the UK were making strong commitments while this administration was working tirelessly to ensure that these commitments turn into impactful ventures and enterprises.

The minister announced the implementation of the ministry’s backward integration programme across key selected priority products, namely palm oil, sugar, cassava starch, cotton textiles and garments.

He added that the government was prepared to collaborate with investors to achieve its mandate.

For palm oil, Adebayo said there was a domestic market opportunity of about One billion dollars which potential investors could take advantage of.

On cassava starch, he said while Nigeria remains the largest producer in the world, adding that a significant domestic supply gap existed with more than 95 per cent of cassava starch still being imported.

He said that the government focus was on bringing in large scale investors to bridge the gap and increase production of cassava starch.

Speaking on cotton, the Minister told the gathering that the government strategy was to leverage on the special economic zones for garment production for both local market and export.

He declared that the government is committed to the establishment of special agro-processing zones across the country so as to reduce post-harvest losses, increase value addition to farmers and enhance rural employment.

According to him, the government is partnering with the African Development Bank to achieve its goals in this regard while the ministry is willing to collaborate with potential partners in different areas of this project.

“Similarly, we aim to build at least one agro-processing facility in each of the country’s 109 senatorial districts by leveraging available government funding and exploring innovative financing methods such as public-private-partnership and grants.

“Nigeria’s agribusiness sector is full of opportunities across multiple value chains, especially in the area of processing.

“The outlook report from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) states that the sector will undergo robust growth.

“The growth is projected to rise 30 per cent between 2018 and 2028,” he stressed.