In this article, we are going to briefly look at how agriculture is one of the biggest reasons why Nigeria is the world’s 27th largest economy, and why investing in this sector will propel Nigeria to greater heights globally. Farouk Gumel, the executive director of TGI, said about Nigerian GDP and How Nigeria's farming improving day by day.

The Truth About Nigerian GDP

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa with the highest population on the continent. It was ranked the 27th largest economy globally and is among the largest producers of oil and gas in the world.

The whole world knows Nigeria for its Oil while ignoring its other assets – arable land, water, solid minerals, and of course, its young and talented population.

Oil is considered by many as the biggest contributing factor to the Nigerian economy, and to some extent, they are right. Oil reserves in Nigeria amount to 35 billion barrels and oil still remains the largest earner for the Nigerian government. Most of the oil is exported in crude form. There is little value addition locally this means only a few jobs are created locally.

So if the oil is such a big factor in the Nigerian economy, then why is agriculture the main focus of this article?

Statistically, agriculture is a key factor of the Nigerian GDP. In 2019, agriculture accounted for nearly 22% of Nigeria’s GDP and employs more than one-third of the population. We have 14 million cattle produced in our country and are the largest producer of cassava (59.4 million tons) and yam (47.5 million tons) plus major exporters of cocoa, cashew, sesame, and beans to mention a few. For local consumption, Nigeria produces maize, sorghum, rice, millet, and wheat. It has a vibrant and fast-growing poultry and fisheries industry. There have also been significant investments in vegetable oil refining in recent years.

It is worth noting that as the oil and gas and many other sectors fell into recession in recent years, Nigeria’s agriculture sector continued to grow and create jobs.

What can be Done in the Future?

Just to be clear, Oil is and will remain a huge factor in the GDP of Nigeria, but to create a better and more inclusive economy, Nigeria needs to focus on its secret weapon, agriculture which supports more than 70 million people in Nigeria,

In the last 5 years, the Nigerian Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria have pushed aggressive fiscal and monetary policies aimed at harnessing Nigeria's agricultural potentials. The policies, which target both small scale farmers and large scale corporates, have resulted in significant investments in Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.

TGI Group, through its numerous subsidiaries such as WACOT Ltd is one of the many private sector companies to participate in this latest push by Nigeria to put Agriculture to work.

WACOT Ltd has started up projects of new rice mills across Nigeria and employs over 9,000 workers both in blue and white-collar jobs. Its new rice mill which is speculated to be the turning point in Nigerian agriculture and will provide farming the boost it needs can store up to 120,000 tonnes of rice paddy and has the storage facility to keep that much raw produce for 6 months in advanced silos.

Farouk Gumel, executive director of Tropical General Investment (TGI) Group has rightly stated in an article that TGI/WACOT Ltd projects are made to take advantage of the new government policy direction and that the new WACOT Ltd rice mill will bring with it a lot of opportunities for the people of Nigeria. Farouk Gumel also stated that WACOT is planning to build two more rice mills in the coming years.

In addition to WACOT, many other well-known brands are participating in Nigeria’s rice revolution. For example, Dangote Industries intends to set up 10 rice mills in the coming years. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man announced he is investing over $4 billion in farming and food processing in Nigeria. Olam in a recent press release also announced its plans to make more investments in food production and processing across Nigeria. As these big names and many more continue to invest in food production, Nigeria’s agricultural sector may finally deliver its true potential.