President Muhammadu Buhari said late Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that his administration was fully committed to increasing the productivity of Nigeria’s agriculture and solid minerals sectors to save the nation from the harsh effects of low crude oil prices.
Speaking at a meeting with leading members of the Council of Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Buhari said with declining revenues from crude oil exports, Nigeria’s hopes of economic resurgence now lie in the rapid development of its immense agricultural and solid mineral resources.
Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), in a statement on Wednesday said the President invited Saudi Arabian businessmen to invest in both sectors, assuring them that his administration will welcome more foreign investments in support of its efforts to rapidly diversify the Nigerian economy.
President Buhari said that Nigeria had regrettably depended too much on crude oil exports to the neglect of other resources and was now paying a harsh price for failing to diversify its economy early enough.
“With the downturn in the global prices of oil, we now have to prospect our solid minerals. We have to return to agriculture. Mining and agriculture are our hopes now. We will welcome investments in these areas. We will appreciate an in-flow of more resources and expertise to help us achieve our objective of economic diversification,” the President said.
The governors of Osun, Ogun, Katsina, Borno and Zamfara states, who were part of the President’s delegation, took turns to address the Saudi Arabian businessmen on investment possibilities in their states, assuring them of good returns.
Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil, Chairman of the Council of the Saudi Arabian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that agriculture was a very important area of investment for its members, adding that they were already in Brazil, the United States of America and Sudan, “where we have huge farms.”
Declaring that they were willing to invest in Nigeria, Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil said that the Saudis were the leading investors in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and Ethiopia.