Nigeria, Germany sign MoUs on agriculture, commerce

Nigeria and Germany on Friday in Abuja signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) in agriculture and commerce.

The first agreement was signed between the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the German-Africa Business Association.

The First Deputy National President of NACCIMA, Hajiya Saratu Iya-Abubakar, signed on behalf of Nigeria, while Dr Stefan Liebing of German Africa Business Association, signed on behalf of the German business delegation.

The second agreement was signed between the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and the PETKUS Technologie GmbH, a company that specialises in post-harvest agricultural value chain.

The Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, signed on behalf of Nigeria, while the representative of PETKUS Technologie GmbH, Peter Huser, signed for the Germans.

Speaking after signing the MoUs, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, said the agreements would increase the collaboration between Nigeria and Germany in the two areas.

According to Enelamah, the agreements will also leverage small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

“We want our SMEs to learn from the German experience.

“The other area of German excellence is the technical area: technical education, technical training and technical development. It’s also an area of great interest to Nigeria.

“We are also working with Germany in the automobile sector because that is also an area where Germany is a leader and Nigeria clearly has a policy to be a leader in the auto sector in West Africa and Africa.”

The minister said that all these agreements would require high levels of engagement, collaboration and communication to be actualised.