Agriculture key to resolving FX crisis – NGX CEO, Oscar Onyema

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Oscar Onyema, has said that the agricultural sector will have a huge role to play in solving Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis.

Onyema spoke during the 26th Annual Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers conference held in Benin City, the Edo State Capital.

Citing the recently published Q2 2022 GDP report by the National Bureau of Statistics, Onyema noted that crop production was the major driver of the agriculture sector, given that it accounted for 91.99 per cent of the overall nominal growth of the sector in the second quarter of 2022.

Onyema further stated that Nigeria’s arable land area of 34 million hectares provided a veritable platform to achieve 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, in terms of generating the much-needed foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy, the agriculture sector continued to show strong potential.

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

The Punch