BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
As Nigerians get peppered by high food prices, the Group Managing Director of Nahcoaviance, Mr. Indira Gupta, has charted a new path for importers and manufacturers to flourish, noting that Nigeria has the capacity to become the food basket of the entire African continent if the right strategies were deployed.
Gupta, at a press conference in Lagos at the weekend, encouraged Nigerian producers to ferry their products to various local, regional and international markets, leveraging on the services of airline operators.
Gupta said there was a need to reach out to Nigerian farmers who have products that can be exported.
According to him; “Fufu for instance, can have a continental attraction in Africa. It has an organic attraction. I am a firm believer that Nigeria can be the food basket of this continent. The land is there. Ability of farmers to produce in volumes is there”.
The Nacho boss noted that he has gotten his board and management team to focus squarely on this, saying It is much more beneficial for the nation to be exporting than to import.
He added that one of the big changes he has brought into NAHCO since assuming office on December 7, 2021 has been focus on export.
Gupta said Nahco had established an export processing center saying the idea was to have Nigeria produce in one stop shop, get the products packaged, before transfer to the aircraft.
He said the processing centre was built as part of efforts to encourage Nigerian farmers to export.
“We intend to build similar centres in five major cities in the country including Enugu, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano,” He said.
Gupta noted that about N1 billion had been invested in the project, adding that there was an intention to take Kano to its former glory.
“A lot of milk in Nigeria is being imported but between Adamawa and a few northern states, there are over one million cows. Can’t they produce the needed milk?” he asked.
BResponding to Nacho’s expectations for 2024, Gupta said the company intends to bring more airlines to Nigeria while he expressed hopes that the purchasing power in Nigeria would improve and help the export volumes.
Gupta stated that the naira devaluation is significantly impacting on the company but efforts are being carefully made regarding review of handling charges, adding that, if the handling companies decide to review, it would only be at a point where they cannot take the situation anymore as the cost of diesel, manpower and other costs had gone up because of the economic situation.
The Group Managing Director announced that some of Nahco’s newly acquired equipment had started arriving, noting that global challenges slowed down the arrival unexpectedly.
