Spends $10b yearly on food imports
Nigeria is using the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) as a springboard to expand trade with Japan, push for reforms in the global financial system, and consolidate its leadership role in Africa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the summit in Tokyo, Tuggar stressed that Nigeria’s participation, led by President Bola Tinubu, signals its determination to forge deeper ties with Japan while also using the multilateral platform to advocate for Africa’s interests.
Highlighting the scope of bilateral relations, Tuggar noted that Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, engages Africa mainly through two agencies: the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), responsible for development assistance, and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), which drives trade and investment.
According to him, Nigeria also exports large volumes of hydrocarbons to Japan, with bilateral trade currently estimated at $1 billion.
“We are determined to expand that significantly,” he declared.
Beyond trade, Tuggar said Nigeria was using the TICAD9 forum to push its long-standing diplomatic objectives, including permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).Central to Nigeria’s agenda, according to Tuggar, is reform of the global financial architecture to ensure African economies can thrive.
“Unless the system is reformed to address issues like debt restructuring and rescheduling, Africa will remain disadvantaged. Nigeria, as Africa’s leading economy, must champion this cause,” he said.
MEANWHILE, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has said Nigeria spends $10 billion yearly on agro-imports, including wheat and fish. Kyari disclosed this yesterday in Lagos at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. 2025 Agric and Export Expo.
The minister, represented by his Special Adviser, Mr Ibrahim Alkali, decried the rising rate of food imports and stressed the need for increased financing in agriculture to boost local production and exports.
“Nigeria spends over $10 billion annually importing food such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish, and even tomato paste.”
“We sit on 85 million hectares of arable land with a youth population of over 70 per cent under the age of 30. Yet Nigeria accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of global agro-exports.
“Currently, the nation earns less than $400 million from agro exports. To build a non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance agriculture,” he said.
Kyari reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to achieving food sovereignty, insisting on the urgent need to scale up agricultural financing.
