The Federal Government will rekindle economic ties with Mexico, according to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar. He claims that this will result in strong diplomatic ties, strategic trading, and rewarding trade traffic.
This was disclosed by the Minister during a recent meeting in his office in Abuja with a delegation led by the Mexican Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr. Alfredo Miranda.
He noted that Mexico is not just another country with which Nigeria has solid diplomatic relations, but also a crucial economic partner and the country’s largest importer of hibiscus.
According to Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, “in 2017, Nigeria earned $35 million from export of 1,983 containers of hibiscus to Mexico, this happened within the space of nine months of that year.”
Abubakar pointed out that “it is regrettable that the suspension of hibiscus trade lasted for nearly three years longer than it should and resulted in a slowdown of the momentum of export activities around hibiscus”.
The Minister also revealed that period was used to decisively overcome the proximate cause of the suspension of export, “the days of khapra beetle infestation of some of the hibiscus consignments are behind us”.
In order to assist the construction of chambers specifically designed for the methyl bromide fumigation of hibiscus, he promised that the ministry will work closely with off takers and exporters through the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).
The Ambassador was praised by the Minister for his efforts to see that during his tenure, the compliance issue that halted the sale of Nigerian hibiscus to Mexico was remedied.
Dr. Abubakar informed his audience that “Nigeria is a large producer of Ginger, Chili Peppers and various, we will love to be Mexico’s importer of choice for these products, our hope is that you will support NAQS to achieve this mutually beneficial outcome”.
In his remarks, Mr. Alfredo Miranda, the Mexican ambassador to Nigeria, stated that his nation is actively working to improve the capacity of its agricultural output. He also mentioned that the value of hibiscus was more than 600 million dollars, and he expressed his excitement to conduct business with the nation under the Ministry.
Mr. Alfredo stated that “my country can develop 14 varieties of maize which can be good for other purposes, 14 varieties of rice which can be sold in different conditions, 4 varieties of sesame and several varieties of soya beans”.
In his remarks, the Comptroller General, NAQS Dr. Vincent Isegbe said that “hibiscus is one of the products that we have been exporting to Mexico, “we have been doing well on it until we have hitches on it, but with the resumption of the new Ambassador it took only 3 hours to resolve the matter”.