The European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS has launched the EU-Nigeria Agribusiness platform aimed at increasing private investments in the country’s agribusiness sector.
The EU-Nigeria Agribusiness Platform will also contribute to boosting the exploration of agribusiness opportunities between Nigeria and the EU through the establishment and maintenance of a network of active members of agribusinesses across Nigeria and the EU.
The EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi who stated this during the Nigeria-EU business forum yesterday in Abuja explained that the agribusiness platform is a form of a digital agricultural platform that provides digital marketing, trading, or investment space for commercial and/or transactional activities, interactions, communications, integrations and cooperation in the agri-food system and agro-industry between Nigerian and European SMEs.
She added that the EU-Nigeria Agribusiness Platform’s primary focus is to create linkages
and interactions between Nigeria and EU agribusiness stakeholders especially amongst SMEs as well as; promote trade and investment between both sides.
She recalled that the idea for an agribusiness platform Followed from commitments of the November 2020 EU-Nigeria Ministerial Dialogue to launch an EU-Nigeria agri-business platform as a structured dialogue between Nigerian and EU farming and agri-food communities, agricultural and agroindustrial sectors to promote trade and attract responsible investment, and to foster business linkages, particularly for SMEs”.
Isopi revealed that the volume of EU-Nigeria trade stood at €24.6bn in 2023, dropping by 18.7% in 2022. She said the EU remains Nigeria’s biggest trading partner, first investor, top donor of humanitarian and development aid, and the biggest diplomatic network.
She maintained that although the EU-Nigeria trade relations favours Nigeria, with crude oil contributing the most of the imports from Nigeria, there is a need to improve on non-oil trade between Nigeria and the European Union.
She stated that the EU-Nigeria Agribusiness Platform would be managed by the Agribusiness Register Limited, a private sector entity conversant with the agribusiness ecosystem, saying they will work with, and engage with selected agribusinesses,
farmer groups, aggregators and other critical stakeholders
Founder and Director of Agribusiness Register Limited Roland Oroh, in a remark, said the Nigerian agribusiness ecosystem is grateful to the EU Delegation for the opportunity that this platform offers to serve the interest of the EU and Nigeria to boost non-oil trade and investment and bring benefit to SMEs on both sides.”
“The platform through its operations will nurture partnership and collaboration with EU implementing partners in the relevant space of agriculture, digital, and entrepreneurship on one hand, with the relevant agencies of the government of Nigeria. In particular, it will work with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Standards Organization of Nigeria, and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy,” he said.
