Is anymore in government circles thinking of addressing the inflation crisis by maybe striking a deal with the European Union to flood Nigeria with food in exchange for a long term fruit supply deal

Ayo Akinfe

[1] One huge problem the UK is now facing outside the European Union (EU) is that she will no longer enjoys duty-free supply of certain products. For instance, she now has to pay top dollar for fruits and vegetables from the Mediterranean region. Trust the Spanish, Italians, Greeks, French and Portuguese, they demand full market price for all the tropical fruits they sell to the UK

[2] Companies like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Iceland, etc now have to buy their fruits from Southern Europe at global market prices. With the EU protection gone, countries like Nigeria should be able to compete for access to the UK market alongside Southern European suppliers

[3] Nigeria is actually a significant fruit producer globally. We are the seventh largest pineapple producer (1.6m tonnes), sixth largest papaya producer (837,000 tonnes), 10th largest mango producer (917,000 tonnes) and 10th largest guava producer (790,000 tonnes)

[4] We need to start thinking about how to get our produce on to European Union (EU) and UK supermarket shelves. Matters that need addressing include supply guarantees, meeting international food safety standards and avoiding damage in transit

[5] During all these recent Anglo, French, Russian, Chinese, etc African summits, I have not seen any farmers on the Nigerian entourage. What would have been ideal would have been if our main fruit producers had sat down with the likes of Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco, Iceland, etc to thrash out supply deals

[6] Just imagine if President Tinubu is invited to witness the signing of a historic fruit supply deal. In the UK for instance, they would have bragged about it non-stop, heralding it as the great new chapter in British history and a vindication of the decision to leave the EU

[7] In Nigeria, our supply costs are lower than many other global fruit producers due to lesser wages. Also, the fact that we are just below Europe geographically gives us a competitive edge over suppliers in Asia and the Americas. Post-Brexit, fresh Nigerian fruit should be arriving in the UK every day in the hundreds of thousands tonnes

[8] What our producers need are refrigerated trucks to convey their fruit from farm to port, government approved warehouses that are secure and refrigerated and then training on modern pest control methods and international food safety standards. In return, they should be asked to offer supply guarantees underwritten by the Nigerian government for long term deals

[9] I would love to see President Tinubu pick up the phone to Europe’s retail trade and let them know that we can meet all their tropical fruit requirements over the next 10 years unfailing

[10] Maybe as a short term deal, President Tinubu can strike a deal with the EU to flood Nigeria with six month’s supply of food in exchange for maybe a year’s supply of fruit

Ayoakinfe@gmail.com