Government seeks improved ties with Israel on industrialisation, trade

In a bid to boost the volume of trade between Nigeria and Israel, the Bank of Industry (BoI), and the Israeli Government, have entered into ‎a partnership to explore opportunities in the agro-processing industry as well as encourage investors interested in the value-chain sector.

The Acting Managing Director of BoI, Waheed Olagunju, during a courtesy visit by Israeli Ambassador to the Bank, said the ‎partnership is apt and comes at a time when Nigeria is trying to improve and increase its agro processing capacity.

The partnership would identify areas on how to improve and strengthen bilateral trade agreements between Nigeria and Israel.

‎Olagunju therefore, urged domestic and foreign investors to take advantage of the opportunity to invest in the nation’s vast agricultural sector.

According to him, the partnership would also explore areas of possible collaboration in the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal
Government while seeking improved partnership with development agencies from Israel.

In his words: “There is no country as blessed as Nigeria in the world. The Bank of Industry will be on ground to work with Israeli investors who want to do business in Nigeria. Whoever wants to do business in Nigeria can always work with BOI, and we will support them. We are on ground in Nigeria to hold the hands of both domestic and foreign investors who want to do business in the country.

‎”You are coming at the right time when the country is trying to ‎improve and increase its agro processing capacity because we had bumper harvest last year. We are still going to have more in the coming years, and if steps are not taken urgently to improve the agro processing industry, there could be post harvest losses and this will serve as a disincentive to farmers. So, we are stepping up our agro processing capacity in the country, to ensure that we preserve and add value to our agricultural produce while also
preparing them for the export market as well.”

On his part, the Envoy, Guy Feldman‎, said the Israeli Government believes that there is much more both economies can do in terms of trade.

‎”Israel has ideas and innovations where Nigeria can tap from to drive any sector of the economy. The trade between the two countries is something which we have more with the smallest countries in Europe and other places and this shows that something is definitely wrong somewhere, because we believe Nigeria is a huge economy and we believe we can a whole lot more,” he said.