Nigeria and Brazil signed a $1bn (R17.7bn) agreement on Tuesday to boost agriculture, food security, energy and defence in the West African nation, Nigeria’s Vice-President Kashim Shettima said.
The two countries aim to “deploy more than R1bn to deliver mechanised farming equipment, training and service centres across Nigeria,” Shettima said in a statement posted on X.
A lot of farming in Nigeria is subsistence and land is owned by families or individuals, which makes large-scale acquisition problematic. Nigeria also imports food for its 200-million plus population.
“We are moving from subsistence to scale in agriculture, and in energy we are taking long-overdue steps to attract serious investment into gas production, refining, and renewables,” Shettima said.
The agreements were signed in Abuja during a visit by Brazil’s Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin to Africa’s most populous nation.
Shettima told his Brazilian counterpart reforms embarked on by President Bola Tinubu have helped reshape Nigeria’s economy.
Nigeria is targeting a $1-trillion (R17.7-trillion) economy by 2030, with reforms to agriculture, energy, education and public finance. The country has also asked banks to recapitalise to attract foreign investments.
