Nigeria will continue to lag behind in agricultural development until the government does something about the high import duty placed on agro-equipment.
Chairman of Eurobase Consult Group Limited, an agro-equipment consulting and marketing outfit, Mr. Don Ekesiobi, who stated this over the weekend in Abuja, said it would be difficult for Nigeria to achieve food security without engaging in mechanised farming.
Mr Ekesiobi who was addressing the media on the forthcoming special Agro-equipment and Technology Expo scheduled for April 16 and 17 2024 in Abuja, urged the Federal Government to review the high import tariffs on agro-equipment downwards to make them affordable to Nigerian farmers in order to boost food production in the country.
According to him, “Nigeria pays the highest import duty or tariff on agro-equipment in the world.
“But my appeal to the government is that as Mr. President has declared a state of emergency on food security, he should remove import duty on agro-equipment at least for sometime to enable Nigeria to balance very well in the quest for food security.
“The Federal Government should also make it easier for the clearance of these equipment. If government insists on collection of high import tariffs, the objective of achieving food security will not be realised.
“If an spends as much as N15 million to clear one container carrying only three tractors, how much will he sell them? The price will be high of course.
“What I expect is that the government should immediately declare zero import duty on agro-equipment to enable Nigerian farmers to have access to them. The earlier the government does it, the better for everybody.”
Speaking on the forthcoming Special Agro-equipment and Technology Expo with the theme: “Sustainable Food Security and Agro Produce Export through Mechanisation,” Ekesiobi explained that selected10 foreign partners with good global impactful track record would arrive Nigeria during the two-day Expo in Abuja.
He added that these foreign partners would assist in propelling the development of Nigerian agribusiness sector.
According to him, “Eurobase Consult Limited is duly registered and incorporated in Nigeria under the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990.
“We are local partner/country representatives to 20 international agro Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) from Israel, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, USA, Brazil, Holland, and by this Association, our company has become an agro-equipment conglomerate, a one stop shop for all agro- equipment and Farm Technology.
“In order to boost Sustainable Agro production and food security, we carefully selected 10 among our foreign partners with good global impactful track record that can propel the development of Nigerian Agricultural business sector.
“They have contributed in executing agro projects in different western and Asian countries that are self-sufficient in food production and have high volume of Exported Agro produce.
“We are bringing them to Nigeria to replicate same multi-billion dollar agro business in Nigeria. We are working in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to achieve this objective.
“Our team are coming to invest in this country. They will go into local fabrication of these equipment and as well train our people in what we call technology transfer so that when they are gone, our people can take over.
“As a private organisation, when Mr. President declared emergency on food security in Nigeria, which is in line with his 8-point Agenda, we strategically align our programmes and policies to achieve the set objective which will not only make food available, affordable and accessible but create jobs and reduce poverty among women and youths through agro-mechanisation and food processing.”
He further assured that organisation would soon make tractors available in the country, adding that “the level of innovation our group is bringing in farming will revolutionise or transform agro-sector real time, if we engage intentionally within the agro-value chain, we can create hundreds of thousands of jobs, wealth and foreign exchange and at same time end hunger which is the focal point of Mr. President but we have to be intentional and collaborate.