FG calls for sustainable cold chain infrastructure through PPP

The Federal Government has called for public-private partnerships, to find lasting solutions to cold chain challenges in Nigeria and African trade.

Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, made the remark yesterday, at the 5th West African Cold Chain Summit and Exhibition (WACCSE 2023), organized by the Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa (OTACCWA) and partners, on the side lines of Nigeria’s 8th International Trade Exhibition on Agrofood, Plastics, Printing and Packaging.

Applauding the organisers of the exhibition, Adebayo said any improvement in the agricultural commodity value chains, including addressing the reduction of post-harvest loss (PHL) of perishables, is fundamental and would have a positive impact on Nigeria and the larger African economy.

The minister explained that given the global economic disparities, high market requirements in terms of quality standards, increasing competition, constantly changing customer demand, it is paramount for Nigeria to have a robust and innovative strategy for addressing cold chain bottlenecks and to remain globally competitive.

He encouraged stakeholders to invest in the cold chain sector, which can be highly profitable and reap from the economic benefits which abound.

On his part, Paul Maerz, Managing Director of the organisers of the fairtrade Messe, noted that global technology leaders from 17 countries were on ground to showcase adapted technologies and solutions for the Nigerian and West African market in the fields of agriculture, food + beverage processing, ingredients, plastics, printing and packaging.

Maerz said the exhibitors come from Austria, Bulgaria, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Germany, France, India, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Türkiye, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the USA.

Germany is again participating with an official German Pavilion, presented by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs in cooperation with the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) and supported by VDMA Food Processing & Packaging Machinery.

The Netherlands is participating with official Netherlands pavilion presented by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and organised by NABC together with East-West Trade Consulting.

He noted that the enormous population growth from 206 million in 2022 to 411 million in 2050 demands high sustainable investments in Nigeria’s agrofood & plastprintpack industry.

“To highlight the importance of the Nigerian market I would like to mention some figures with €346m in 2021, Nigeria is the largest investor in food & packaging technology in Africa, ahead of Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco and all other African countries.

“With €165m in 2021, Nigeria is the second largest importer of plastics technology in Sub-Sahara Africa, just behind Egypt (€202m) and well ahead of South Africa. Nigeria’s plastics technology imports increased by an average of 25% per year between 2016 and 2020.

“At €50m in 2020, Nigeria ranks second in sub-Saharan Africa for imports of printing and paper technology, behind Egypt, but well ahead of other African countries.

“With €151 million in 2021, Nigeria is among the three largest investors in packaging technology in Africa, in line with South Africa and behind Egypt, ahead of Algeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya.”

In his remark, President of OTACCWA, Alexander Isong, pointed out that cold chain would bring a lot of economic development and earnings to Nigeria, adding that if Nigeria grows it’s cold chain industry,, the country will be able to meet all major certification standard and GAP needs desired to export its produce to other countries.