The Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed concern over the nation’s $10 billion annual food import expenditure, urging stakeholders to adopt innovative financing solutions to enhance agricultural productivity and bolster food security. Speaking at the FirstBank of Nigeria Limited’s 2025 Agric and Export Expo in Lagos, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari, represented by Special Adviser Ibrahim Alkali, highlighted the urgent need to reduce reliance on imported food items like wheat, rice, sugar, fish, and tomato paste.
Kyari noted that agriculture contributes 35% to Nigeria’s GDP and employs 35% of the workforce, yet the country accounts for less than 0.5% of global agro-exports, earning under $400 million annually. With 85 million hectares of arable land and a youthful population (over 70% under 30), he emphasized untapped potential. “To build a robust non-oil export economy, we must rethink agricultural financing,” he said, advocating for models like revenue-sharing finance, performance-based agricultural goals, factoring, forward contracts, pay-as-you-harvest schemes, and equity financing to align with farmers’ realities and drive surplus production.
FirstBank’s Managing Director/CEO underscored the expo’s role in fostering collaboration and innovation, stating, “The renamed FirstBank Agric & Export Expo reflects our commitment to transforming Nigeria’s economy through non-oil exports. By driving strategic investments, we can unlock the agricultural value chain’s potential and pave the way for shared prosperity across Africa.” He highlighted the event as a platform for forging partnerships to catalyze growth.
The call for innovative financing comes amid Nigeria’s push to diversify its economy, with agriculture seen as a cornerstone for reducing import dependency and boosting export revenues. Experts at the expo emphasized that adopting global best practices in agricultural finance could position Nigeria to capitalize on its vast resources, enhancing food security and economic resilience.
