By Felicia Imohimi

The U.S. Mission’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has partnered with the Federal Government to adopt innovative solutions aimed at enhancing agricultural trade for economic growth and food security.

Mr Matthew Obogbaimhe, Chairman of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Kaduna Chapter, said this at a roundtable on Thursday in Abuja.

Obogbaimhe said revitalising Nigeria’s agricultural sector required more than trade restrictions, stressing that the sector demands innovation, sustainable practices and investment in infrastructure.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the roundtable, tagged “Innovative Approaches to Agricultural Trade for Economic Growth and Food Security,” was organised by FAS in collaboration with NACC and the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG).

The discussion focused on the impacts of Nigeria’s agricultural trade restrictions on food prices, local production and investment.

It also provided the U.S. Mission’s FAS with an opportunity to connect with policy advisers and push for reconsideration of restrictions on U.S. agricultural exports.

Obogbaimhe said the partnership with FAS was driven by a vision to promote agricultural innovation and trade across Africa.

“The roundtable provided a unique platform to exchange ideas and explore innovative agricultural trade policies that benefit consumers and farmers in Nigeria and the United States,” he said.

Mr Christopher Bielecki, Agricultural Counselor for the FAS office in Lagos, said the forum enabled stakeholders to discuss innovative solutions to strengthen agricultural trade, reduce costs for agribusinesses and consumers, and create prosperity for American and Nigerian farmers.

“The U.S. Mission’s FAS office looks forward to continued collaboration with the Nigerian government and agribusiness stakeholders to translate the roundtable’s recommendations into action.

“By working together to advance innovative agricultural trade policies, the United States and Nigeria can foster greater food security, create opportunities for value-added processing, attract investment and strengthen the agricultural sector,” Bielecki said.

NABG Director-General, Mr Jafar Umar, described the roundtable as timely and highly relevant to the national discourse on trade and food security.

He expressed the group’s readiness to partner with FAS, noting that NABG remains the leading voice of agribusiness in Nigeria.

Also speaking, Dr Betty Adegebo, a member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) research team, said Nigeria’s agricultural trade restrictions had resulted in higher food prices, increased informal trade, and inefficiencies in production, while failing to achieve self-sufficiency.

Presenting NIPSS findings, Adegebo said food inflation surged to 30.6 per cent in 2023, with staples such as rice and beef more than doubling in price over two years.

She noted that the price of one kilogramme of local rice rose by 137.32 per cent year-on-year in October 2024, while boneless beef increased by 98.73 per cent.

“Production challenges persist, including an estimated maize production gap of 300,000 metric tonnes annually, and low yields of 2.0 tonnes per hectare, far below South Africa’s 5.2,” Adegebo said.

She added that informal trade had expanded, especially in rice and poultry, as high tariffs and import bans continued to encourage cross-border smuggling despite government measures such as the 2019 border closure.

Adegebo said NIPSS recommended reducing import bans and tariffs, adopting long-term predictable trade policies, harmonising tariffs and sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, and leveraging frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

She also called for the establishment of a centralised body to oversee agricultural trade regulations, improve official trade, strengthen sanitary and phytosanitary oversight, and boost government revenue.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by Nigerian agricultural trade policy advisors, legislative representatives, agribusiness leaders, researchers, regulators, and U.S. agricultural trad associations. (NAN)

Edited by Tosin Kolade

By Fortune Abang

The European African Chamber of Commerce and Industries (EACCI) has announced plans to invest 250 million dollars through the Edo State Diaspora Agency to support economic growth and development there.

The Director-General of EACCI, Amb. Kingsley Obasohan, disclosed this in his address during a virtual dialogue with Edo indigenes in the Diaspora, in Glasgow, Scotland on Wednesday.

The dialogue, convened by Gov. Monday Okpebholo, focused on building strategic partnerships with the Edo Diaspora to foster meaningful development and unlock new investment opportunities across the state.

The governor also outlined his administration’s commitment to innovation, transparency, and people-centered governance for sustainable development.

Speaking during the session, Obasohan emphasised the importance of unity and collaboration in achieving economic progress for Edo.

“We have to join hands together to see how we can take Edo to the next level.

“The state is blessed with abundant mineral resources, favourable weather, and good topography.

“There is nothing God has not blessed Edo with, but government alone can not do it all.”

He stated that the EACCI was ready to work with the Edo Diaspora Agency to bring in large-scale investments, particularly in the areas of mineral assets, agriculture, food processing, water, recycling, and energy.

“These sectors are critical to us, and we believe our investments will have a real impact on the people of Edo,” he added.

Obasohan also revealed that EACCI had already invested more than 149 million dollars in a gamma radiation programme across several African countries to support job creation and economic value enhancement.

He expressed concern over the lack of sustainable economic value chains in Africa, especially in Nigeria, attributing high unemployment rates to the continuous export of raw materials to Europe.

“If we can domesticate production processes and build value chains locally, it will enable more people to be meaningfully engaged,” he said.

Obasohan affirmed that EACCI’s vision aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritised job creation and economic diversification.

“Africa’s biggest challenge is poverty, not lack of resources.

“In fact, Africa is richly endowed with natural resources. What we lack are the tools and systems to convert value chains into viable economic sectors,” he explained.

He lamented that Nigeria, despite possessing over 44 different mineral assets, still functions largely as a mono-economy dependent on crude oil — a reality EACCI aims to help change.

The EACCI is a global assembly of chambers of commerce, registered in 98 countries and operational in 54 countries across Europe and Africa. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

By Mark Longyen

A Professor of Cybersecurity and Computing, Uche Mbanaso, has called on ECOWAS to embrace and deploy Artificial Intelligence tools to tackle the sub-region’s multi-faceted security challenges like violent extremism and terrorism.

Mbanaso stated this at the ECOWAS Parliament’s 2025 Second Extraordinary Session with the theme: “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Parliamentary Efficiency, Ethical Governance and Development in the ECOWAS Region,” in Port Harcourt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the weeklong parliamentary seminar aims to acquaint the lawmakers with AI technology and how to deploy it in critical sectors across Wes Africa.

Speaking on the topic: AI Deployment in the Security Sector: Advancing Peace, Counterterrorism, and Public Safety,” he said integrating AI deployment in the security sector would transform West Africa’s security architecture.

“The integration of AI deployment in the security dector is poised to transform regional security and safety, offering both opportunities and challenges for the sub-region.

“Therefore, it is incumbent on ECOWAS to emphasise the need for a unified and structured framework for AI integration, supported by ethical guidelines, to maximise benefits while reducing risks.

“While AI holds significant potential for advancing peace, counterterrorism, and public safety, its practical implementation depends on tackling issues related to accuracy, cognitive disengagement, and ethics,” he said.

Mbanaso, who spoke as a resource person, however, noted that challenges such as over-reliance on AI, diminished creative, innovative and critical thinking skills, data privacy risks, and dishonesty are growing concerns.

According to him, a balanced approach is crucial to provide a unified, fair, efficient, and responsible peace with AI support settings, while avoiding AI ethical and responsible application gaps, is necessary.

The don stressed that West Africa’s AI application must be deliberate, discussed, coordinated, and harmonised through a policy framework and strategy that prioritises the development of digital infrastructure.

“Development of digital infrastructure must be prioritised to ensure fairness, accountability, and transparency across the ecosystem, while awareness and training in AI applications must be mandatory and monitored to guarantee conformity and compliance.

“The region should work harder to develop a humane but optimal relationship with AI, where humans take the lead, emphasising collaboration and mutual enhancement.

“AI should serve as a robust tool that supports human creativity, innovative and critical thinking, and complex decision-making, rather than substituting for humans. This partnership must be deliberate, coordinated andharmonised,” he said.

The cybersecurity expert also advocated the deployment of AI-driven tools for border control and monitoring across the sub-region as a critical mechanism to tackle West Africa’s myriad security challenges.

He said that border security personnel continue to face the difficulttask of swiftly identifying and countering various evolving threats across diverse ECOWAS borders and the changing environments in which they operate.

Mbanaso said that having a unified, AI-powered ecosystem across ECOWAS borders, with coordinated and harmonised control operations, could significantly improve security measures by effectively detecting unusual behaviours and crimes in real-time.

“The development and integration of large-scale centralised information systems,alongside the implementation of a decentralised information exchange mechanism for ECOWAS members, can facilitate AI-driven border control and monitoring,” he said.

He further said that AI deployment would enhance border security and situational awareness through a comprehensive dataset, complex network of surveillance tools, data-sharing mechanisms, and pre-frontier situational awareness systems.

Mbanaso suggested the deployment of an ECOWAS Advance Passenger Information mechanism, which can enable airlines to transmit live passenger details, including passports, to ECOWAS border authorities for pre-checks against immigration databases.

He also advocated the creation of an ECOWAS Border Surveillance System, which can link national and ECOWAS surveillance resources, including drones, cameras, and sensors, to improve border monitoring and situational awareness.

“AI’s computer vision capabilities can be utilised to examine images for anomalies,enhancing border surveillance, and identifying irregularities in vehicles carrying loads, monitor border regions with drones, and even authenticate forged documents through image analysis.

“AI-powered chatbots can be utilised in online application processes for long-term residence or migration within the ECOWAS sub-region, as well as for permission to relocate to another ECOWAS member state.

“The aim is to provide real-time information, respond to enquiries, and facilitate border crossing procedures smoothly across member state borders,” he said.

He emphasised that ECOWAS and its Member States should embrace a uniform artificial intelligence (AI) technology (UAIT) to strengthen border control and mitigate security risks related to cross-border terrorism and serious crime.

“This should be a concrete effort towards a ‘smartening’ of ECOWAS borders, which demands the development and interlinking of large-scale centralised information systems and the deployment of a decentralised information exchange mechanism for borders and security,” he added.(NAN)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza