US agency gives Nigeria $60m for agribusiness

As part of efforts to boost economic growth and modernise agriculture, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a $60million five-year West Africa Trade and Investment hub in Nigeria. According the agency, the hub will create 40,000 new jobs.  It will also unlock potentials and improve the ease of doing business in […]

As part of efforts to boost economic growth and modernise agriculture, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a $60million five-year West Africa Trade and Investment hub in Nigeria.

According the agency, the hub will create 40,000 new jobs.  It will also unlock potentials and improve the ease of doing business in the agricultural sector, as well as facilitate access to private capital.

Speaking during the official launch in Abuja, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, noted that Nigeria represented a land of opportunity for private sector investment.

“We have shown our commitment to increasing that trade through the preferential benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and through development programmes that foster regional and bilateral trade.

“Today, we celebrate the power of trade and investment. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria. The two-way trade in goods between our countries is worth near $10 billion per year,” she said.

Minister of Agriculture Sabo Nanono, who was represented by Mojisola Odusoye, however, urged Nigerians to take advantage of the potentials available in the agricultural sector. He noted that this would lift so many youths out of poverty and improve standards of living.