Aliko Dangote, the chairman of Dangote Group, has raised the alarm that the activities kidnappers was scaring away investors from the country, which has crippling effects particularly on the agricultural sector.
Dangote made this in remarks at the ongoing Agric Expo and Conference, organised by Nigeria Agribusiness Group in collaboration with other private and public sector agencies.
He was represented by executive director, Public Sector, Dangote Group, Mosul Ahmed, spoke on ‘Challenges Facing Agribusiness Investors in Nigeria’, where he lamented the spate of kidnapping along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, which has made investors owning commercial farms to practically abandon them for fear of being attacked and kidnapped.
He said: “The security situation in the country is discouraging agribusiness investors. Most of the people that have large farms along the Kaduna-Abuja road have abandoned the farm due to the menace of kidnapping.”
He also lamented the bottlenecks in access to land by agribusiness investors, which he traced to the Land Use Act, and cautioned that if the Act will not be revisited it would impede the expected and desired diversification of the economy and to make it the economic mainstay of the country.
He therefore advised that various governments should begin to work together where necessary on the issue with proactive approach, particularly on securing land for commercialised agriculture.
He also accused governments at all levels for lack of cooperation and protection investors in the agricultural sector, and according to him there has not been proper synergy created on the line of inter-governmental relationship for better performance and productivity by the sector.
“Agriculture cannot strive in this country, except there is cooperation between all the agencies of government. Inter-governmental cooperation is lacking in terms of galvanising the kind of support that investors need in the sector”, he stated.
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