Buhari and Rasmussen

President Muhammadu Buhari has  urged Denmark to invest in Nigeria’s agriculture and solid minerals sector.

Buhari made the appeal in Washington at a bilateral meeting between him and Danish prime Minister, Mr Lars Rasmussen, during which he also promised to shrink Nigeria’s food import bill.

“We will welcome more investment in our agriculture and solid minerals sectors from countries with expertise in the two sectors. We abandoned them for petroleum. Now, we have to go back”, Buhari said.

He said that the Federal Government is  determined to significantly reduce the very high bill for importation of food products to Nigeria and committed  to the rapid diversification of  Nigeria’s  economy.

“We developed a mono-product economy and lost opportunities to diversify in the past. We have great potentials for agriculture and solid minerals. We are now determined to exploit them to the fullest. Addressing the past neglect of these two sectors will help to reduce unemployment and make us a more productive country”, he said.

President Buhari assured the Danish Prime Minister that the Federal Government will continue to work in partnership with other countries to further improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.

The President said that his administration was determined to stop   the huge loss of revenue from crude oil theft and has received assurances of international support to curb illegal shipments of Nigeria’s crude oil.

Remarking that his country is a major shipping nation, Mr. Rasmussen thanked President Buhari for Nigeria’s current efforts to enhance security in the Gulf of Guinea.

He assured the President that Danes will be very interested in investing in the development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector if the right policies and conditions are put in place.

“We are quite experienced in agriculture. It is an area in which we can cooperate. If you pave the way and remove the obstacles, we will like to come in,” the Prime Minister told President Buhari.