Nigeria, Africa’s largest fish producer has about 2.5million metirc tonnes of fish deficit, according to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono.
The Minister disclosed this in Lagos at the just concluded stockfish seminar organised by the Norwegian Seafood Council.
According to Nanono, the total fish production in Nigeria including imports does not satisfy the fish demand in the country.
He said that the total fish production in Nigeria is about 1.123million metric tonnes while the annual consumption is about 3.6million metric tonnes Vanguard reported.
Nigeria imports about 8,000 metric tonnes of stockfish and stockfish heads from Norway and this represents about 0.4 percent of the total volume of fish imported into Nigeria according to Nanono.
At the seminar, importers of stockfish under the aegis of First Premier Stockfish Importers Association called on the Federal Government to lift the ban on Foreign Exchange for the importation of stockfish and stockfish heads into Nigeria. The group asked the government to remove Stockfish from the list of 43 items banned from accessing Forex.
- Read: Okonjo-Iweala, WTO and Nigeria: Internal Worries
- Visit Investogist’s homepage for more articles
Nanono who was represented by the Director of Fishery and Aquaculture Department, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ime Umo said “Fish is currently the cheapest form of protein for the average Nigerian.
“The total fish production in Nigeria is about 1.123million metric tonnes, while the annual consumption is about 3.6million metric tonnes. The total fish production including imports in Nigeria still does not satisfy the total fish demanded.
“The volume of stockfish and stockfish heads imported into from Norway into the country is only about 8,000metric tonnes and this represents about 0.4 percent of the total volume of fish imported into Nigeria.
“Despite the fact that the government needs to reduce the nation’s import bills, we need to take cognisance of the importance of cheap and affordable protein and other nutrients for the Nigerian population that could be derived from products supplied by other friendly trading partners to support our local production to fill the gap of our domestic demand and supply.
“While initiating policies and regulation, there is need to be aware of the reciprocity of trade amongst nation and the fact that we can also involve our trading partners and friendly nations like Norway to assist us with our backward integration process into commercial aquaculture and for Nigeria’s processed aquaculture product to gain access into international fish trade market.”
The minister also said that Nigeria is still open to investors who may be interested in investing.
“Nigeria is the largest producer of catfish in Africa. However, the processing of this major fish product remains majorly limited to the use of smoking. Investment opportunities, therefore, abound. Investment in large scale production of Tilapia and shrimps in all Nigeria’s inland and marine waters, export opportunities are currently available for these products.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
