Agriculture Contributes Over 30% of Nigeria’s GDP -Emefiele

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has said the country’s agriculture sector contributes about 30 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Emefiele stated this while delivering a lecture on Monday, at the 25th and 26th combined convocation of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The CBN boss noted that Nigeria was over-dependent on oil revenue even though it only contributes just 10 per cent of the GDP while agriculture contributes three times more, saying it was the reason behind the bank’s huge agricultural interventions in the Nigerian economy.

Also, Emefiele said the bank has granted N948 billion to 4,478,381 smallholder farmers in Nigeria to boost food production and has created 12.5 million direct and indirect jobs for Nigerian youths.

He said, “As you all know, one of the major challenges facing the Nigerian economy is over-reliance on revenues and foreign exchange earnings from the sale of crude oil, even though petrol represents just 10 per cent of our GDP. “Moreso, the non-oil sector, particularly agricultural and manufacturing sectors, which contribute about 30 and 13 per cent to our GDP have been confronted with low investments, inadequate credit to the real sector and weak infrastructure.”

Furthermore, he called for more local production of food, noting that Nigeria has a large and growing population that would need locally manufactured products rather than imported food items.

“Furthermore, with an annual population growth rate of 2.8 per cent, it was important that all efforts were made available for Nigerians, particularly in sectors that had the potential to absorb youths. “We were aware that if necessary support was given to households and business, productivity will rise and investment will flow into our economy,” he added.

source  Agro Nigeria