By Emmanuel Nduka
President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has advised the Nigerian Government not to go ahead with the plans to suspend tariffs, duties and taxes on the importation of food grains and other food products into the country for the next five months.
The AfDB Chief said the decision is capable of destroying the country’s economy, adding that: “Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilise prices”.
“Nigeria’s recently announced policy to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing,” Adesina was quoted as saying while speaking to African Primates of the Anglican Church at a retreat in Abuja last week.
Heritage Times HT reports that in a bid to reduce the massive food inflation ravaging the country, Minister for Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, last week announced that the Tinubu-led government is suspending tariffs on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through the country’s land and sea borders for the next five months.
According to Adesina, the government’s decision is “depressing”.
He added that the policy may damage all the hard work and private investments that have gone into Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
“Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilise food prices while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilise the naira. Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity.
“Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation,” Adesina added.
He urged the Nigerian government to take advantage of AfDB’s investments and support for African farmers while adding that the bank, along with the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Islamic Development Bank, has provided $520 million in funding for agricultural development.
“Together with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, we have provided $520 million to support the establishment of Special Agricultural Processing Zones, which will allow private agribusinesses to establish industries that process and add value to agricultural commodities,” Adesina stated.
