Nigeria's vice president Yemi Osinbajo says the country is spending vast amounts of foreign exchange on food imports, amidst dwindling oil revenue. However, he adds that there is in fact a huge amount of money could be made if Nigeria implements Russian technology in agriculture; “There are better opportunities for economic cooperation between both countries," he said.
He spoke on Thursday 10 Nov., during talks with a Russian delegation led by Russian agriculture minister Alexander Tkachev.
The delegation comprised Russian Ambassador to Nigeria Nikolay Udovichenko, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mr Evgeny Gromyko and officials of Russian’s firm-United Company (Rusal).
“The oil prices have gone down tremendously and yet large amount of foreign exchange is used to purchase food abroad, and we have large arable land for agric. It won’t make sense, if you don't use the land,” Osinbajo said.
He called on Russian farmers "to invest in Nigeria, produce and import from here. We are just six hours away from Europe by air. Vegetables, flour can be exported to Europe from here. Even our local market here is a lot.”
The vice president and the delegation agreed that Nigeria and Russia should deepen the existing diplomatic relationship, especially economically.
Earlier, Tkachev disclosed that Nigeria and Russia trade volume was over $300 million last year, adding that both countries had potentials for trade improvement.
