FirstBank, Governors Push Agric Value Addition, As Sector Accounts for 4.1% of Exports

At the fifth FirstBank Agric & Export Expo in Lagos, FirstBank, state governors, and Brazilian representatives called for increased value addition in Nigeria's agricultural sector. They noted that despite agriculture contributing over 20 per cent to Nigeria's GDP, it accounts for only 4.1 per cent of merchandise export earnings. FirstBank Chief Economist Chinwe Egwim highlighted the gap as a significant growth opportunity if more capital is directed towards aggregation, storage, and processing. The stakeholders advocated for a shift from short-term commercial lending and raw commodity exports to financing the entire agribusiness value chain.

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