Agriculture key to resolving FX crisis – NGX CEO

Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, has stated that the agricultural sector will significantly resolve Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis.

Onyema spoke at the 26th Annual Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers Conference in Benin City, the capital of Edo State.

Onyema noted that crop production was the major driver of the agriculture sector, accounting for 91.99 percent of the sector’s overall nominal growth in the second quarter of 2022, citing the National Bureau of Statistics’ recently published Q2 2022 GDP report.

Onyema said Nigeria’s 34 million hectares of arable land provided a veritable platform for achieving food safety and security.

He said;

It comes as no surprise that Agriculture accounts for about 24 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and Nigeria is a leader in various types of agricultural production, such as palm oil, cocoa beans, pineapple, and sorghum.

 According to the NGX boss, the agriculture sector showed strong potential in generating much-needed foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy.

He added;

In 2021, Europe was Nigeria’s main trade partner in terms of agricultural product exports.