Fed Govt Plans $100bn Nigerian-Brazil Initiative On Economy, Food Security

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Federal Government will soon unfold the $100bn Green Imperative Nigeria-Brazil Bilateral Development Programme designed to sustain the economy through agricultural mechanisation.

He stated that the initiative would make use of Brazilian technology for the development of agricultural mechanisation to make farming a dignified venture for Nigerians and ultimately increase agricultural production and boost food security.

Declaring open the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Summit 2021 organised by the Nigeria Diaspora Summit Initiative in collaboration with the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission in Abuja on Tuesday, Osinbajo explained that the first phase of the programme involves the allocation of over $200m for the creation of around 780 Agricultural Service Centres as the poles for catalyst through training and equipment sharing.

The second phase, he added, entails technology transfer from Brazil to Nigeria via the commercialization of agricultural equipment and input such as tractors, planters, seeders, fertilizers and pesticides.

The VP, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, stated, “Another programme in the works designed to transform agriculture and scale-up productivity in Nigeria is the Green Imperative Nigeria-Brazil Bilateral Development Programme.

“Its design is to sustain the economy through the use of Brazilian technology for the development of agricultural mechanization to make farming a dignified venture for Nigerian people and ultimately increase agricultural production and boost food security.

“This solution for Nigeria is the connection of the agricultural value chain through an investment package of initial financing of $100bn set by the governments of Brazil and Nigeria to be used for the improvement of overall infrastructure in the rural areas of Nigeria.”

According to the VP, the key objective is to scale up the country’s agriculture through close collaboration between Nigerian and Brazilian industries for the delivery and use of technology to improve crops.

Welcoming participants to the summit with the theme, ‘Diaspora Partnership and Linkages for Post COVID Economic Growth,’ the NiDCOM chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, urged them to explore the economic opportunities in agriculture, ICT, real estate, food and hospitality, oil and gas and other sectors of the economy.