As part of efforts to boost productivity and marketing opportunities for farmers, Nigeria and Ethiopia are in the process of entering into a technical partnership for joint trading of commodities for the two regions of East and West Africa and the two countries.
The deal, when operational will see the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX) training workers of the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) on technical operations including internship.
Zaheera Baba-Ari, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NCX confirmed that both countries are planning to “enter into market information services whereby they (ECX) will be listing commercially viable Nigerian agricultural commodities such as maize, sesame, cotton, cowpea, cashew nuts and cottons.”
The two Commodities Exchanges will be adding more commodities as time goes on, she said.
According to reports, the NCX official said NCX and ECX are in the process of drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to give legal backing for the planned commodities marketing collaboration.
Baba-Ari said the benefits of the partnership include “opening up business opportunities for Nigerian farmers to attract buyers from African countries and abroad”.
Apart from improving marketing opportunities which will lead to improved revenue for Nigerian farmers, the arrangement will also boost production by farmers who have been exposed to new market frontiers, the official further noted.
NCX has established commodities trading relations with Commodities Export Associations in Sudan to help Nigerian farmers make the best of the occupation, Baba-Ari added.
