The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Mr. Oscar Onyema, has said that the agricultural sector holds huge potential for Nigeria in terms of generating the much-needed foreign exchange for sustainable development of the country.
Onyema, who made this remark at the 26th Annual Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ conference held in Benin City, the Edo State capital, pointed out that boosting the sector’s performance could be achieved through the capital market.
Quoting the just published Q2 2022 GDP report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to substantiate his position, the investment expert pointed out that crop production remained the primary driver of the sector, accounting for 91.99 percent of the overall nominal growth of the sector in the quarter under review.
According to him, Nigeria’s arable land area of 34 million hectares translates to a myriad of opportunities to achieve the much-desired food security in the country.
He said: “It comes as no surprise that Agriculture accounts for about 24 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and Nigeria is a leader in various types of agricultural production, such as palm oil, cocoa beans, pineapple, and sorghum.
“In terms of generating the much-needed foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy, the agriculture sector continues to show strong potential. In 2021, Europe was Nigeria’s main trade partner in terms of agricultural product exports. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the export value of agricultural products to Asia amounted to approximately N68.2 billion – roughly $164.3 million.
“Asia was the second largest destination region for the products, as the exports added up to around N55.7 billion, corresponding to $134.2 million”, Onyema added.
On how the capital market can help grow the sector, the NGX boss maintained that the Nigerian capital market, which has been supporting long-term capital formation over the years, could be a good engine for driving growth in the agriculture sector.
To improve the performance of the agricultural sector, Onyema explained that it had become imperative to promote both new and existing instruments for the optimization of the opportunities in the sector.
He further reiterated the commitment of the NGX Group to supporting initiatives targeted at stimulating Nigeria’s economic growth by creating platforms for businesses and individuals to raise funds in the capital market through innovation, diversified products and services and enabling a regulatory environment to unlock value for all stakeholders in the economy.
