Agric-value chain can provide 50m jobsNASME

The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has stated that the agriculture value chain can provide over 50 million jobs if the Federal Government stops forex restriction as well as place outright ban on food import.The Chairman of Agricultural Group of NASME, Lagos Chapter, Adam Adebayo made this suggestion in Lagos over the weekend during the announcement of its forthcoming third Business Roundtable scheduled to hold on August 29th, 2019.Adebayo said, We have already joined Anchor Borrowers Fund, and we have over 200 farmers and we have acquired over 200 hectares of land on Ogun State. We have the capacity produce what we eat in Nigeria. Agric-value chain alone can create 50 million jobs. We have been advocating this and thank God the President has yielded to it. China with its population, does not import what it eats, China grows what it eats.Read Also:Why SMEs cannot get BoI loans, by NASMEEarlier in his speech, the Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of NASME, Mr. Solomon Aderoju, pointed out that forex restriction will help conserve the countrys foreign earnings, adding that it will adversely enhance the already weakened Naira.While commending the government for the giant stride, he said, this is the only way small businesses would grow, adding that more jobs would be created if well implemented.He noted that the Association has been advocating for outright ban of luxury foods, adding that imported foods such as canned maize, canned backed beans, corned beef, cornflakes, chocolate, custard and others in that category should not be allowed into the country at all.Also speaking, the Vice President, Southwest, NASME, Oladipo Jemi-Alade said the federal governments pronouncement is a new opportunity for the members and other manufacturers in the country to explore the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA), saying that the roundtable was apt.He said, Now that AfCTA is open unto us, we have to be prepared for the next level. We want to be in a position to compete favourably with our foreign counterparts. For this reason, we are upgrading our skills, and we have embarked on membership training nationwide to build skills and capacity.
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