Heritage Bank Plc has taken its campaign for concerted efforts for the growth of agribusiness and commerce in Nigeria to another level as it wants the bilateral agreement signed by Lagos and Kano states to provide for a Commodity Exchange.
The two states signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday at the Lagos-Kano Economic and Investment Summit held at the Jubilee Chalets, Epe, Lagos. The goal of the pact was to ensure the collaboration between the two states boosts commerce and agribusiness and consequently increase the revenue generation by the states.
Speaking at the event during the plenary session on “Growth & Investment Opportunities in Agribusiness – Value Chain Approach”, Olugbenga Awe, Group Head, Agric Financing, Heritage Bank, said there was an urgent need for the establishment of a Commodity Exchange, stating that it would provide the platform necessary for the success of the MoU signed by the states.
Awe said if the Exchange was established, it would make future contracts between traders and speculators in both states and others more possible and thereby enhance agribusiness in the country. Specifically, he stated that the establishment of a Commodity Exchange would help to put the activities of grain farmers and others in Dawanau Market, Kano, and others, in the spotlight.
According to him, the volume of agribusiness and commerce going on daily in Dawanau Market, which is the hub of grains and seeds trading across the world, needs to be complemented by appropriate policies.
Based on this, Awe advised the two states to ensure that the MoU they signed captures the establishment of a Commodity Exchange. Doing that, he stated, would make traceability possible for every produce traded on the floor of the exchange unlike now when grains sourced in Kano or Lagos could be sold and consumed in other parts of the country without knowing its source.