During the week, Nigeria signed the “Grains from Ukraine” project, which will take place in February and will see Nigeria receive grain imports from the war torn eastern European country of Ukraine.
according to Nairametricsnews publication in Nigeria, this information is disclosed by “The Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyi, who led a delegation to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and his counterpart for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad Abubakar, in Abuja.”
The reason for the decision is to create a trade partnership with Nigeria, then start a wheat hub in all of Africa, with Nigeria already being the launch pad.
“The development of the hub will allow you to bring high-quality grains to your country and will positively affect prices in your country. Ukraine intends to develop two or three hubs in Africa and considering the capacity of your country, the grain hub in your country is the number one priority . If we implement it well, it will be a practical step for business to reach a new level,” the minister stated.
“Despite the war with Russia, the Ukrainian food industry wants to have closer relations with Nigeria and we are very grateful that your country is ready to develop these relations.” He added.
“Despite everything happening in the world, our country is ready to develop this cooperation. The Ukrainian government and the president of Ukraine are ready to pay a lot of attention to this development. We want to have regular contacts every year not only by the minister of agriculture but also by other ministers. He concluded.
Ukraine also set the record straight, that this is not a humanitarian aid but a trade partnership.
In light of the agreement, the Nigerian minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, noted that the establishment of a wheat hub in the country has been implemented.
“We appreciate and praise you that despite the war you still find time to extend the gesture of friendship to Nigeria and also donate grain. I can assure you that relations with Ukraine will improve, we already have business with Ukraine, especially in the agricultural sector and I can say that over 30% of our agricultural business with Ukraine, mainly in the area of wheat, fertilizers and other grains. And this I can assure you will continue to improve our relations, “ the minister said.