Post by Trade facilitator on Nov 11, 2013 11:56:51 GMT 1
‘LAKAJI’ project to raise Nigeria’s non-oil exports to N6.4trn by 2017
The Lagos-Kano-Jibiya, LAKAJI, Agricultural Growth Corridor Investment project, being spearheaded by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, is projected to raise the country’s yearly non-oil exports value to about N6.4trillion by 2017.
The project is part of the United States of America’s renewed commitment to Nigeria’s current drive towards optimising her agricultural and other resource endowments for national development.
The initiative, which is estimated to gulp about $12million (N1.92bn) in the four year implementation period, within the context of the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport Program, NEXTT, policy framework, is seen by analysts as coming at an auspicious time, particularly when earnings from the country’s crude oil exports is waning due to supply-demand convulsions at the international oil markets.
Investigations by National Mirror indicated that USAID and other investors would provide the $12 million, with the hope that if the project is accorded all the needed enabling fiscal, infrastructure and other critical policy frameworks, Nigeria’s non-oil exports would hit $40 billion (about N6.4trillion) mark yearly, with the larger volume going to the United States.
A source, who is involved at some of level of the project implementation, but would not like to be identified in print, confirmed to our correspondent that in order to ensure the feasibility of the project, the implementing company, Carana Corporation, has not only ensured a well-thought out design but also assembled a team of investment and economic experts to drive the LAKAJI agenda.
He explained: “The total cost of the project is about $12m. Carana Corporation is the company implementing the project here in Nigeria. Part of our roles in the LAKAJI corridor is what you have seen during the formal launch of the project in Abuja recently.
“However the bottom line is to see that we improve non-oil export from Nigeria to other countries of the world, particularly the USA to about $40 billion per annum at the end of the four-year project. It is a project that is well designed, with a very good team led by a highly experienced Chief of Party, Alf Monaghan. The project’s potentials are extremely high.”
For a country that has continued to suffer post harvest losses for several decades with over 40 per cent of farm produce perishing before they get to the market, while less than 30 per cent eventually get consumed or processed, the LAKAJI agribusiness adventure could only serve as the catalytic endeavour that would help in addressing the lingering challenges and ultimately help in re-enacting the good old days, when agriculture was the mainstay of the economy
Speaking at the opening session of the 2-day LAKAJI Investment Summit last August in Abuja, the representative of Carana Corporation, Dr. Mina Nedelcovych, said the project was designed to assist the Federal Government’s efforts to expand trade volume and efficiency within the ECOWAS region and beyond so that trade particularly in agricultural products can generate inclusive economic growth and development.
According to him, the LAKAJI business corridor has a huge market that would have direct impact on over 67 million Nigerians and presents the opportunity for Nigeria to transform the agricultural value chain in such a way that would reduce to the barest level the rate of wastages in farm produce and improve their value at the domestic and export markets.
The corridor links key production and processing zones for strategic imports and exports through the Lagos ports.
For instance, in the North, the corridor arches towards Niamey, Niger and the Sahel interior of West Africa and registers about 30 million tons of goods transported each year, a figure that accounts for over one-half of the country’s inland freight.
“All along the corridor, we have analysed and identified significant investment opportunities that are like ripe fruits, just waiting to be picked,” Nedelcovych said.
In order to translate the big dream into reality, the USAID chief urged the Federal Government to concentrate more on building efficient transport and logistics, workable rail system, power, warehouse and storage facilities and enabling policies that would encourage local investments.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said the investment efforts to create the LAKAJI corridor would complement sundry economic and investment moves by the Federal Government targeted at strengthening existing infrastructure to support productive activities in the economy.
Citing some of the policy measures being put in place by government to enlist the support of private investors for the ongoing transformation agenda, the minister agreed that the LAKAJI project would help in bridging one of the most critical gaps in the ATA value chain, namely the infrastructure link upon which agro-processing and other post-harvest activities are primarily dependent.
Source: nationalmirroronline.net/new/lakaji-project-to-raise-nigerias-non-oil-exports-to-n6-4trn-by-2017/
The Lagos-Kano-Jibiya, LAKAJI, Agricultural Growth Corridor Investment project, being spearheaded by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, is projected to raise the country’s yearly non-oil exports value to about N6.4trillion by 2017.
The project is part of the United States of America’s renewed commitment to Nigeria’s current drive towards optimising her agricultural and other resource endowments for national development.
The initiative, which is estimated to gulp about $12million (N1.92bn) in the four year implementation period, within the context of the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport Program, NEXTT, policy framework, is seen by analysts as coming at an auspicious time, particularly when earnings from the country’s crude oil exports is waning due to supply-demand convulsions at the international oil markets.
Investigations by National Mirror indicated that USAID and other investors would provide the $12 million, with the hope that if the project is accorded all the needed enabling fiscal, infrastructure and other critical policy frameworks, Nigeria’s non-oil exports would hit $40 billion (about N6.4trillion) mark yearly, with the larger volume going to the United States.
A source, who is involved at some of level of the project implementation, but would not like to be identified in print, confirmed to our correspondent that in order to ensure the feasibility of the project, the implementing company, Carana Corporation, has not only ensured a well-thought out design but also assembled a team of investment and economic experts to drive the LAKAJI agenda.
He explained: “The total cost of the project is about $12m. Carana Corporation is the company implementing the project here in Nigeria. Part of our roles in the LAKAJI corridor is what you have seen during the formal launch of the project in Abuja recently.
“However the bottom line is to see that we improve non-oil export from Nigeria to other countries of the world, particularly the USA to about $40 billion per annum at the end of the four-year project. It is a project that is well designed, with a very good team led by a highly experienced Chief of Party, Alf Monaghan. The project’s potentials are extremely high.”
For a country that has continued to suffer post harvest losses for several decades with over 40 per cent of farm produce perishing before they get to the market, while less than 30 per cent eventually get consumed or processed, the LAKAJI agribusiness adventure could only serve as the catalytic endeavour that would help in addressing the lingering challenges and ultimately help in re-enacting the good old days, when agriculture was the mainstay of the economy
Speaking at the opening session of the 2-day LAKAJI Investment Summit last August in Abuja, the representative of Carana Corporation, Dr. Mina Nedelcovych, said the project was designed to assist the Federal Government’s efforts to expand trade volume and efficiency within the ECOWAS region and beyond so that trade particularly in agricultural products can generate inclusive economic growth and development.
According to him, the LAKAJI business corridor has a huge market that would have direct impact on over 67 million Nigerians and presents the opportunity for Nigeria to transform the agricultural value chain in such a way that would reduce to the barest level the rate of wastages in farm produce and improve their value at the domestic and export markets.
The corridor links key production and processing zones for strategic imports and exports through the Lagos ports.
For instance, in the North, the corridor arches towards Niamey, Niger and the Sahel interior of West Africa and registers about 30 million tons of goods transported each year, a figure that accounts for over one-half of the country’s inland freight.
“All along the corridor, we have analysed and identified significant investment opportunities that are like ripe fruits, just waiting to be picked,” Nedelcovych said.
In order to translate the big dream into reality, the USAID chief urged the Federal Government to concentrate more on building efficient transport and logistics, workable rail system, power, warehouse and storage facilities and enabling policies that would encourage local investments.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said the investment efforts to create the LAKAJI corridor would complement sundry economic and investment moves by the Federal Government targeted at strengthening existing infrastructure to support productive activities in the economy.
Citing some of the policy measures being put in place by government to enlist the support of private investors for the ongoing transformation agenda, the minister agreed that the LAKAJI project would help in bridging one of the most critical gaps in the ATA value chain, namely the infrastructure link upon which agro-processing and other post-harvest activities are primarily dependent.
Source: nationalmirroronline.net/new/lakaji-project-to-raise-nigerias-non-oil-exports-to-n6-4trn-by-2017/
