(Ecofin Agency) - Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh (photo), said the government can no longer afford the high importation bill on fish. According to the official, a rising population, scarcity of foreign exchange income and the naira’s depreciation spurred this decision.

Ogbeh said Nigeria spends $700 million on fish imports each year to overcome the deficit between demand (3.32mln Mt/y) and local production (1.13mln Mt/y) recorded by the country. To fill the gap, the minister now suggests that the nation should look at boosting its internal production instead of relying on imports.

According to experts, the fishery sector will play a key role in Nigeria’s plan to diversify the economy. They affirmed that the nation has enough capacity to be autonomous in fish production. Statistics show that the sector presently contributes to 0.48% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while agriculture contributes more than 20.24% of that value.

Anita Fatunji