Victoria Mbangwa
The maiden edition of the Nigeria-Kazakhstan Business Council International Conference has opened new doors for bilateral cooperation between the two nations, with a strong focus on agriculture, trade, and investment.
The conference, held in Abuja, was organized by the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, in collaboration with the Nigeria-Kazakhstan Business Council.
During the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, highlighted the impact of recent government interventions in the agricultural sector. He praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a ₦200 billion intervention aimed at boosting food production and stabilizing prices, noting that it has led to a significant 40% drop in food prices over the past month.
“As an economist, I know market prices are determined by supply and demand. It’s simple microeconomics. Kyari stated. He also emphasized the government’s commitment to sustaining year-round food production through dry and wet season farming.
“What happened before was that we were
challenged by high demand and low supply. But for 2024, we had a positive harvest, which means we have more supply than in previous years.”
“It was a deliberate attempt by Mr President to make sure that we bring down food inflation to the bare minimum. And we are still not relenting.
“We are looking at price stabilisation mechanisms. Within the next two weeks, we want to roll out the stabilisation to further dampen and bring down the price without, I must say this, discouraging local production.”
“Now we have seen people who were hoarding bringing the foodstuff out because they bought it at a high price, and they don’t want to make any losses.
“We are also discouraging hoarding at the same time. So we have gone into the second season wet. The first part of the dry season was in November. Hopefully, we are going to have an all-year-round harvesting of staple crops,” he said.
The conference also provided a platform to explore economic collaborations between Nigeria and Kazakhstan. Speaking at the event, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alibek Kuantyrov, called for stronger diplomatic ties, urging Nigeria to establish an embassy in Kazakhstan to facilitate trade and investment.
He said, “Our goal is how to promote food security for the whole region of Central Asia and other countries in our continent. It was Kazakhstan that established the Organisation of Islamic Food Security. More than 40 countries are now members of this organisation.
“Unfortunately, Kazakhstan doesn’t yet have an embassy here in Nigeria, just as you don’t have one in our country. We are hoping Nigeria will open one soon. That is also why our delegation is here. So we will also be discussing how to fast-track our diplomatic arrangements and other logistics.”
Kuantyrov said. He also noted that over 90% of transactions in Kazakhstan are cashless, highlighting potential areas for financial collaboration.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi, commended President Tinubu’s economic policies, stating that despite initial challenges, the reforms are beginning to yield positive results. He highlighted the narrowing gap between the official and parallel exchange rates as a sign of economic stabilization, making Nigeria more attractive to investors.
“We all know the challenges of our dear country. I will give a simple example of a plane dropping at the highest altitude. Any casualty can come up in that process.
“But we thank God Almighty that things are normalising on a gradual basis in our country. These are all the fruits of the great things we are seeing as a nation now.” the Ooni remarked.
The event marked a significant step toward deepening Nigeria-Kazakhstan relations, with discussions set to continue on trade facilitation, agricultural development, and diplomatic cooperation.
