Let me again thank you all for your attendance
at this Quarterly Business Forum on agriculture, agribusiness, and the agro
allied value chain. I think we are at a special moment in our journey to food
security, and to becoming a power of sorts, especially of processed
agricultural products in particular.
We are in a
special moment because the Federal Government has shown commitment towards
agriculture and entire value chain. We have seen enthusiasm of all the players,
including the small farmers all across the country.
Getting feedback
concerning issues that have been raised, there is cheaper credit, and the
President directed that we set up a small committee to look at the issue of
intervention funds in agriculture. It is clear, that we are not able to bring
down interest rates overnight, the way out is by some kind of intervention
agreement.
I chair a
committee to look at how to monitor and use intervention funds. We will ensure
that the funds go to the right people and also monitor the use of the funds. We
are also refining the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and other intervention
schemes that we have.
Listening to
questions concerning lower tariffs, we must pay higher tariffs, these sorts of
things are inevitable. What we are trying to do is not increase tariffs for
now, but how we can ensure we clean up the entire value chain. I’m sure you are
aware of the Payment Assurance Guarantee which we put in place for over
N700billion to ensure gas is paid for and for liquidity in the whole value
chain.
Today, we will be
meeting with the World Bank on a scheme they have been working with us on to
fund the entire value chain, and ensure we transit smoothly from where we are,
to a much more market-determined policy for electricity. This will involve a
fair amount of subsidy and help the Federal Government and World Bank are
working together on that. There is no way of sustaining the current subsidies
long term, but we want to ensure the process is smooth.
Dealing with the
gridlock in Apapa port, the first thing to recognize is that the port is meant
to be a 34 million metric tonnes capacity port. Now it is doing 80million
metric tonnes, so it is obviously a port far too small for the size of business
it is doing.
We have met with
all of the important stakeholders, asides from those who do their business
there like Flourmills, Dangote and BUA. We have also met with the Navy, Police,
NPA, Lagos State Government, all federal agencies working in the ports and port
concessionaires.
At our last
meeting, we worked on a number of initiatives and agreed on a number of things
that have to be done. I went personally to see for myself what was going on in
the port area. There is a major problem there, but everyone has agreed on what
to do and there is a plan which we are executing. Nothing would happen
overnight, but we have a good plan that will make it work.
We have taken a
number of decisions; empty containers are to be relocated to holding bays,
shipping companies would no longer be allowed to operate holding bays within
the port, tank farms would not to be permitted within the Apapa area and
process licensing access to trailer parks by NPA to commence. A task force has
been set up to manage traffic within the Apapa and Tin Can Island environs.
The PEBEC team
has been monitoring what’s going on and we are watching closely to solve the
problem. As you can imagine, it is a long running problem and the roads in that
neighborhood are extremely bad but we are trying to fix them.
We agreed that
Dangote Group will carry out palliative works and reconstruction of some major
sections of the Apapa road, which is expected to be completed by June 2018.
Procurement processes have also been concluded for construction of Liverpool
road to Tin Can, to Mile 2, Oworonshoki up to the toll gate. The Honeywell
Group has committed to construct a trailer park, they have started and will
complete it very shortly. BUA Group agreed to do the works around the Tin Can
Island road. We have it in hand, and we are watching and following up on it.
On excise duty, I
have read the PWC study, which goes in one particular direction. And being a
professor and having read several studies, I know how studies can generally
represent the point of view that you prefer. We will consult the study, and
make sure that this does not hamper business and raise costs in any way to
discourage production.
On poultry, we go
back to the problem around smuggling and what to do when supply does not meet
demand. There is a huge demand for poultry and despite local production, people
are still buying imported poultry. Just as we did, with tomatoe paste industry,
we must work something out with poultry.
In developing the
policy for the tomatoe industry, we were quite sure of what it would take to
bring local production to the point where cost don’t go high because we are
banning imports. We have got a fair balance and soon all will see the policy as
a good one. With poultry, it is a similar situation, it is something we must
work on and the Honourable Minister of Agriculture will work on that, so that
we can get some sort of balance.
Smuggling is a
serious threat to our economy, and Mr. President has asked me to head a team to
work out what needs to be done. We are making the point to our neighbors, that
smuggling is an existential threat, we can’t permit the level of smuggling
going on.
Last year, there
was over 500,000 metric tonnes of rice around Christmas, which the Minister of
Agriculture told us about and how it came in through one of our neighbours, but
we blocked it.
Now, three
shiploads of rice have left Thailand, 120,000 metric tonnes, going to this same
neighbour of ours who have very large warehouses where they store this rice. It
is very clear that this rice is for us because our neighbours don’t consume
parboiled rice, they consume the white broken rice. It is clear that our
neighbours do excellent business, with allowing rice to come into Nigeria and
other products including poultry
I think it is
important for us as a country, to make the point clear, that we are not going
to accept that. We are all within the same economic zone and work together, so
we go in a friendly and polite manner as possible, to ensure that this practice
stops.
For those who are
familiar with it, the duty in some of these neighboring countries, especially
for rice, is deliberately set lower than ours, it is about a fourth of ours. We
have increased duty tax so as to discourage importation but they would
naturally drop duty to encourage import and then it would come to Nigeria.
I think we are at
a point where we are making a fair amount of progress with the land issues also
with the State Governors. It is not a problem we can solve overnight. For
titling of land, banks find it difficult to accept lands just as it is, banks
won’t accept the lands without titles, one of the issues we are working with
State Governments is to ensure titles are done effectively and effectively as
quickly as possible. Lagos, Kano and Rivers are working very well with us.
We have an Ease
of Doing Business initiative for the sub-nationals, and at the moment, a road
show is going on, trying to encourage State Governments to work with us. There
is no national policy on land titling.
With respect to
land clearing, we have heard from BOI and Minister of Agriculture on how we
need to assist States, particularly the Southwest, to ensure that we support
land clearing.
I have noted the
suggestions that have been on a standing -consultative forum on agriculture and
agri-business. This will be extremely useful and we should do. How we should go
about it will be left with the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of
Industry, Trade and Investment to work those out.
So let me again
express my gratitude to your all for you time and for all of what you have done
to make the Nigerian economy work well. All of us know how difficult it has
been, but I am encouraged by the efforts which individuals, associations and
groups are making to improve things, our circumstances and our situation as an economy.
We are all firmly
of the view that this country can do a lot more than what it is doing if we get
the infrastructure and incentives right. This country can be one of the major
agriculture and agric-business centres in the world. I am sure if we work
together we can achieve all of that.
Fundamental to
our economic policy is private sector leadership, and we have emphasized that
time and time again. We have tried to establish several public – private sector
platforms including this one, the quarterly business forum. The constant
engagement in my view is the way to go.
If we
continuously engage and interact this way, we will resolve most of the problems
that stand in the way of our becoming the great economy that our country surely
has the potential to be.
