Nigeria needs to improve quality of Agro exports – Mnister

The quality of Nigeria’s agricultural products does not meet the export standards of many international countries, the Federal Government has revealed.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama disclosed this during a meeting with the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, in Abuja.

Onyeama who lamented the rejection of Nigerian exports by other countries said that lack of quality was the bane of Nigeria’s agro-exports.

He said, “In engaging with several countries, we have seen that, especially in the agriculture sector, the phytosanitary aspect is very important.

“We are being denied market access into a lot of countries because of the quality of the products. And this is costing us huge resources. So I think that your agency (NEPC) also has a lot of work to do.”

Onyeama further stated that Federal Government will focus on strengthening economic diplomacy in ensuring Nigeria benefits from countries it has formal relationships with.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a comparative and unique advantage to be physically present in over 100 countries in the world.

“There are several countries around the world not blessed with the natural resources that we have but yet, through trade, have transformed their societies and have become major economic powers,” Onyeama stated.

On his part, NEPC Chief, Mr Awolowo expressed confidence that the Federal Government’s efforts will lead to the agency’s realisation of $30 billion from non-oil export by 2025.