Nigeria and Germany on Friday signed two Memoranda of Understanding in agriculture and commerce, as part of the visit of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
The first agreement was signed between the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture and the German-Africa Business Association.
The First Deputy National President of NACCIMA, Saratu Abubakar, signed on behalf of Nigeria; while Stefan Liebing, of German Africa Business Association, signed on behalf of the German Business Delegation.
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The second agreement was signed between the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, and the PETKUS Technologie GmbH, a company that specialises in post-harvest agricultural value chain.
While the Managing Director of NIRSAL, Aliyu Abdulhameed, signed on behalf of Nigeria, the representative of PETKUS Technologie GmbH, Peter Huser, signed for the Germans.
Speaking after signing the MOUs, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said the agreements would increase collaboration between Nigeria and Germany in the two areas.
Enelamah said the agreements would also leverage small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.
He said: “We want our SMEs to learn from the German Experience and be as important. The other area of German excellence is the technical area; technical education, technical training and technical development. It’s also an area of great interest to Nigeria.
“We are also working with Germany in the automobile sector because that’s also an area where Germany is a leader and Nigeria clearly has a policy to be a leader in the auto sector in West Africa and Africa.”
He said all these would require high levels of engagement, collaboration and communication to be actualized.
Also speaking, Abdulhameed said the MOU signed between NIRSAL and PETKUS was borne out of the realization of the opportunities that exist for investments in the Nigerian agricultural sector under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
He said, “Under the current administration and the present agricultural promotion policy of this government, there are ample opportunities for investors, in terms of technology and capital, to come to Nigeria and to invest in the agricultural sector.
“NIRSAL provides the risking environment and mechanisms to enable investors like PETKUS to come to Nigeria and do their business.”
According to him, the agreement would go a long way in reducing the 51.3metric tons of aggregate food production, equivalent of about US$9 billion, which the Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, report says Nigeria loses annually.
