Dangote Asks Nigerian Government to Ban Maize Export

Nigerian billionaire and founder of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has called on the Nigerian government to place an embargo on maize export to avert food crisis in the country amidst Russia-Ukraine war.

Dangote said this at the 4th Annual Nigerian Food Processors and Nutrition Leadership Forum in Lagos on Thursday.

The industrialist billionaire explained that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine would lead to  food shortage in the next two to three months, as a result of cut in fertilizer supply.

He noted that Russia and Ukraine are the major sources of fertilizers used in Nigeria. 

According to Dangote Russia and Ukraine are first and fifth largest wheat producing countries in the world, accounting for one-third of global wheat production, stressing that there would be shortage of urea, wheat, maize in the global market.

He further explained that Russia and Ukraine produced about 13 per cent of urea, 26 per cent of potash, and one of the largest phosphate producers globally. 

He said Nigerian farmers would now want to export maize to earn foreign exchange, which wouldn’t be healthy for the country.

“We would start seeing people exporting maize to earn foreign exchange, which I believe we should stop. 

“We need to grow more so we don’t have a shortage of food. It is about food security, and it’s serious,” Dangote advised.

The forum which was organised by the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and TechnoServe, under the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) programme, seeks  to address the lingering challenges facing the food fortification sector using a market-based approach to assist over 90 food processors to increase their capacity to produce and sell fortified foods to local markets.

Mr Dangote said it is important to engage the government in a robust discussion to achieve possible solutions to supply chain impact on Nigeria

Mr. Boye Olusanya, the Flour Mills of Nigeria CEO, in his own speech said the war would impact the prices of commodities globally, pointing out that wheat prices had increased, and there were issues of inventory control and management. 

“We need to discuss with the government the measures to take to alleviate the impending crisis. The impact will also affect maize as Ukraine is the largest producer; we need to start looking at the issue of cross-border trafficking of maize, as more farmers will be moving maize out of the country,” he said. 

He further mentioned that fertiliser would be affected with the impact spanning between 12 months and 18 months.

“If we don’t manage the situation effectively, there will be (a) significant volume of pressure on input material and the volume of food sold,” he said. 

(NAN)