Future of food, beverage industry in Nigeria looks exciting – Food West Africa director
The future of food and beverage industry in Nigeria looks bright and the sub-sector will continue to grow, according to Jamie Hill, director of West Africa Food/ Food West Africa exhibition held in Lagos.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos at the 3-day food exhibition, Hill, who is also the director at Life Sciences Group Africa, said the huge population of Nigeria set it apart from other markets.
According to him, the conference provided an opportunity for local food and beverage firms in Nigeria to promote their products, while also offering international companies the opportunity to meet local representatives.
“A number of Nigerian companies are looking to expand their businesses across Nigeria and also export to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). We also have a number of international companies that are looking at meeting local representatives to bring their products to Nigeria,” Hill said.
“Essentially, that will be the first step and what we hope in the long term is people realising how exciting the market is here with huge opportunities and market. Our long-term goal is to see that these companies overseas look to set up their manufacturing plants in Nigeria in the future,” he stated.
He disclosed that there were 140 exhibitors this year, out of which 65 percent were foreign companies and the rest, local.
“We are always looking to increase our local representation. But the reality is that we have more demand from international companies who are excited about the proposition the Nigerian market opens to them,” he said.
He further revealed that the exhibition grew 10 percent this year when compared with last year.
“Nigeria is being more and more less dependent on oil and gas and is moving to agriculture, manufacturing and the rest. In the long-term, the future is bright and we will grow with you,” he said.
Some of the companies which exhibited their products were Sona Group, Seyi Oduntan Farms Limited, Smylie Limited, UK; Premier UK Trading Limited, Sri Lanka Tea Board, and Funtua Eggs, among others. Food West Africa is the largest food and beverage event in West Africa.
Isaac Folorunso Adewole, minister of health, represented by Modupe Chukwuma, director of food and drug services at the Federal Ministry of Health, stressed the importance of eating good food, pointing out that Nigerians who ate good food might not need drugs.
“Nigeria is not a stranger to food safety standards. The Federal Ministry of Health and other partners are working towards a new National Food Safety Control System,” Adewole said.
Yetunde Oni, acting DG of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said there was a need to provide an enabling environment to encourage foreign food and beverage companies to establish facilities in Nigeria, adding that this would enhance employment.
Osita Anthony Aboloma, DG, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), said the agency had developed 50,000 standards out of which 5,000 were on food.
Aboloma said SON had, in collaboration with other agencies, positioned made-in-Nigeria products for competitiveness in local and international markets.
ODINAKA ANUDU