President, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Sheriff Balogun, has expressed concern over high inflation, driven in part, by food and high transportation costs.

  He noted that the agricultural sector, one of the major pillars of the economy, continues to struggle due to high insecurity, adding that food security and the provision of raw materials to industries are at risk, which in turn, continues to fuel headline inflation.

    Speaking during the chamber’s 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held in Lagos, Balogun expressed concerns over how the factors affect trade and businesses and urged the government to prioritise the survival of the real sector.

  He said oil, which used to be the driver of the economy, is no longer what it used to be. He noted that now is the time to begin to take trade and non-oil exports seriously as they are the only way the economy can recover from its current slump.

  Reviewing the activities of 2024, he said, his administration intends to focus on SME development and training, exports and financing opportunities for member’s import and export businesses, trade missions/expos as well as programmes to support startups.

  Touching on the chamber’s upcoming trade mission, the Trade Mission Committee Chair, Violet Abdulkadir, noted that this year’s trade mission would take place in September and would focus on agriculture, food and beverages as well as the whole agriculture value chain.

  “We will participate in the American food and beverage show in Miami, Florida. There will be plenty of opportunities for Nigerian businesses as we are focused on creating business avenues for agri-focused businesses in terms of collaborations, access to new markets, contacts and so on,” she said.

    She added that it would feature fruitful business-to-business meetings and would visit the state’s export processing zone, warehouses and so on to learn from them.

  “It is common knowledge that Miami is strategically positioned to serve both the American and Caribbean markets. So, this is something Nigerian exporters can benefit from,” she said.

  She added that before departing Nigeria, exhibitors’ products would be examined to ensure they are export-worthy for international markets.
Supporting her stand, Balogun said the current tariff of 10 per cent is not very high and exporters still stand a good chance of competing favourably in the U.S. market.

  “Even when AGOA existed, Nigeria did not benefit from it, and it doesn’t change anything for us now. It maybe benefitted the players in the garment and textile sector and before the program, Agric-related export goods to the U.S were already on zero tariff,” he noted.