President Muhammadu Buhari has said that with the declining revenues
from crude oil exports, Nigeria’s hopes of economic resurgence now lie
in the rapid development of its agricultural and solid mineral
resources.
He said his administration was fully committed to increasing the
productivity of Nigeria’s agriculture and solid minerals sectors to save
the nation from the harsh effects of lower crude oil prices.
According to a statement on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media
and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke in Riyadh late
Tuesday at a meeting he had with leading members of the Council of Saudi
Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Inviting Saudi Arabian businessmen to invest in both agriculture and
solid minerals, the President said that his administration will welcome
greater foreign investment in support of its efforts to rapidly
diversify the Nigerian economy.
He regretted that the country had depended too much on crude oil exports to the neglect of other resources.
He added that Nigeria is now paying a harsh price for failing to diversify its economy early enough.
He said, “With the downturn in the global prices of oil, we now have
to prospect our solid minerals. We have to return to agriculture.
“Mining and agriculture are our hopes now. We will welcome investments in these areas.
“We will appreciate an in-flow of more resources and expertise to help us achieve our objective of economic diversification.”
The governors of Osun, Ogun, Katsina, Borno, and Zamfara States, who
were part of the President’s delegation, took turns to address the Saudi
Arabian businessmen on investment possibilities in their states,
assuring them of good returns.
The Chairman of the Council of the Saudi Arabian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry, Dr. Abdulrahman Al Zamil, said that agriculture was a
very important area of investment for its members, adding that they were
already in Brazil, the United States of America and Sudan, “where we
have huge farms.
source: PUNCH
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