Economy
Nigeria’s Wheat Value Chain’s Growing Importance to Job Creation, Food Security
The wheat value chain continues to play key roles in providing employments for the active segment of the population while strengthening the nation’s food security position.
The jobs and the affordable meals that are being delivered to the local markets through the bold developmental actions pursued by the local wheat millers couldn’t have come at a better time as Nigeria’s unemployment situation and inflationary trends grow agonizingly worse.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that unemployment, underemployment and youth unemployment/ underemployment, reached 33.3 %, 22.8 %, 42.5% respectively in the 4th quarter of 2020 in the country.
Meanwhile, the increasing dietary shift to more affordable wheat derivative foods such as bread, semolina, pasta and noodles has led to expanded production, processing, warehousing, distribution/ logistics, fleet management, last-mile and retailing activities in the wheat value chain, consequently lifting the employment generating capacity of the value chain from 10 million to 12 million.
Coming at such a crucial time when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic incessantly weakens the economic contributory latency of other sectors, the robust activities being generated along the wheat value chain are a rare lift for Nigerian households.
The wheat value chain does not only provide jobs for the population, it also ensures the population has consistent access to affordable quality foods.
In the past year, the prices of Rice, Garri, millet and Beans, which are notable national staples, have risen sharply by 21.1%, 114.1%, 57.2% and 66.6%, respectively, while the prices of wheat derivative foods have been largely cushioned from the adverse inflationary trend by local millers.
The flour milling companies, under the aegis of the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN), and the bakers, intentionally absorb the extra cost of production occasioned by the tough operating environment, in order to keep feeding the population.
Take for instance bread, a widely consumed staple food produced from wheat. The wheat millers continue to ensure that while other food commodities increased in price by 50% and more in the past year, bread is shielded from such debilitating trend, increasing by just 28.5% and the average daily production output of 10 million loaves is maintained. To this end, bread has traditionally become the cheapest carbohydrate option available for Nigerians.
The availability of quality flour brands at competitive prices helps the bakers to maintain production level, forgo downsizing and help meet customers demands, despite the adverse effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Bakers, therefore, understand the importance of the millers’ intervention efforts.
How did the flour millers achieve such an important economic balancing act? The flour millers intentionally track commodity prices in the carbohydrate food staple space to keep the price of inputs for bread production competitive. The same goes for every other wheat derivative food such as semolina, noodles and pasta, which the flour millers intentionally ensure are kept within affordable price boundaries of the consumers.
A global consulting firm, KPMG, attests to the important roles played by flour millers in feeding a national population that has over the years been priced out of the other staple foods due to continuous food price inflation, a spike in unemployment rate and a declining income level.
In a report themed ‘Wheat-based consumer foods in Nigeria’, KPMG underscored the fact that the flour milling businesses that operate in Nigeria have been a source of “low-cost convenient staple and baked foods” for the teeming population.
This also explains why 45% of the food variants served in Nigerian homes are produced from wheat. As more foods are being served to nourish, sustain and strengthen the Nigerian populace, by direct correlation, more jobs are also being created by the wheat millers and the wheat value chain.
Speaking on the employment-generating and food security roles played by the wheat value chain, Mr Ashish Pande, Managing Director of Crown Flour Mill (CFM) Limited, a subsidiary of Olam, an agribusiness conglomerate, said: “Presently, the wheat value chain accounts for over 10.5 million jobs generated annually in Nigeria. This of course has placed the wheat value chain at the centre of the various economic development agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
To reiterate the nutritional and economic contributions of flour millers, Ashish expatiated further, “Presently, the wheat value chain adds N2.3 trillion to Nigeria’s GDP annually, being the average yearly spend on wheat derivative foodstuffs; and accounts for 75 million of the daily food portions in Nigerian households.”
He said, “To scale up its contributions, the milling association continues to invest N500 million annually in seed trials, research, training of smallholder wheat farmers and reimbursing the various farming research institutes in the country to ensure that the current local production levels of wheat improve significantly. While these efforts have ensured that we keep providing affordable and quality food for the growing Nigeria population, it has also deepened the rate of jobs generated for the young and active of the population.”
Similarly, Professor Adetunji Kehinde, provost of the College of Agriculture, University of Osun, provided an insight into the robust activities that keep turning out the impressive job creation rates in the wheat value chain.
He said, “Like other agro-products, the wheat value chain has created and is still creating employment at the pre-production (procurement of loan for land, labour, and training), production (seed procurement to field management till harvesting time), harvest (methods, tools, labour, and transport) and postharvest (handling, storage, processing, and milling), preservation, packaging, distribution and marketing levels. The wheat milling industry is one of the most important drivers of employment in the food sector.”
Considering the contributory role that the wheat value chain plays in employment generation and food security, all hands must be on deck to support flour millers, in their current efforts to strengthen the all-important value chain.
Formulating and implementing a developmental agro and financing policy framework that would ensure that flour millers continue to access wheat would help maintain the key roles of providing affordable staple foods and employment for the Nigerian population. This should be the focus of the Federal Government and relevant agencies and key stakeholders, especially at this challenging period.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Kingdom via the British High Commission in Abuja has launched two flagship economic reform programmes – the Nigeria Economic Stability & Transformation (NEST) programme and the Nigeria Public Finance Facility (NPFF) -as part of efforts to support Nigeria’s economic reform and growth agenda.
Backed by a £12.4 million UK investment, NEST and NPFF sit at the centre of the UK-Nigeria mutual growth partnership and support Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen macroeconomic stability, improve fiscal resilience, and create a more competitive environment for investment and private-sector growth.
Speaking at the launch, Cynthia Rowe, Head of Development Cooperation at the British High Commission in Abuja, said, “These two programmes sit at the heart of our economic development cooperation with Nigeria. They reflect a shared commitment to strengthening the fundamentals that matter most for our stability, confidence, and long-term growth.”
The launch followed the inaugural meeting of the Joint UK-Nigeria Steering Committee, which endorsed the approach of both programmes and confirmed strong alignment between the UK and Nigeria on priority areas for delivery.
Representing the Government of Nigeria, Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Finance and the Economy, Mrs Sanyade Okoli, welcomed the collaboration, touting it as crucial to current, critical reforms.
“We welcome the United Kingdom’s support through these new programmes as a strong demonstration of our shared commitment to Nigeria’s economic stability and long-term prosperity. At a time when we are implementing critical reforms to strengthen fiscal resilience, improve macroeconomic stability, and unlock inclusive growth, this partnership will provide valuable technical support. Together, we are laying the foundation for a more resilient economy that delivers sustainable development and improved livelihoods for all Nigerians.”
On his part, Mr Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, highlighted the significance of the programmes within the wider UK-Nigeria mutual growth partnership.
“NEST and NPFF are central to our shared approach to strengthening the foundations that underpin long-term economic prosperity. They sit firmly within the UK-Nigeria mutual growth partnership.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the growth, digital capacity, and sustainability of Nigeria’s 40 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has been signed by MTN Nigeria and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
The collaboration will feature joint initiatives focused on digital inclusion, financial access, capacity building, and providing verified information for MSMEs.
With millions of small businesses depending on accurate guidance and easy-to-access support, MTN and SMEDAN say their shared platform will address gaps in communication, misinformation, and access to opportunities.
At the formal signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, November 27, 2025, in Lagos, the stage was set for the immediate roll-out of tools, content, and resources that will support MSMEs nationwide.
The chief operating officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Ayham Moussa, reiterated the company’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s economic development, stating that MSMEs are the lifeline of Nigeria’s economy.
“SMEs are the backbone of the economy and the backbone of employment in Nigeria. We are delighted to power SMEDAN’s platform and provide tools that help MSMEs reach customers, obtain funding, and access wider markets. This collaboration serves both our business and social development objectives,” he stated.
Also, the Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN Nigeria, Ms Lynda Saint-Nwafor, described the MoU as a tool to “meet SMEs at the point of their needs,” noting that nano, micro, small, and medium businesses each require different resources to scale.
“Some SMEs need guidance, some need resources; others need opportunities or workforce support. This platform allows them to access whatever they need. We are committed to identifying opportunities across financial inclusion, digital inclusion, and capacity building that help SMEs to scale,” she noted.
Also commenting, the Director General of SMEDAN, Mr Charles Odii, emphasised the significance of the collaboration, noting that the agency cannot meet its mandate without leveraging technology and private-sector expertise.
“We have approximately 40 million MSMEs in Nigeria, and only about 400 SMEDAN staff. We cannot fulfil our mandate without technology, data, and strong partners.
“MTN already has the infrastructure and tools to support MSMEs from payments to identity, hosting, learning, and more. With this partnership, we are confident we can achieve in a short time what would have taken years,” he disclosed.
Mr Odii highlighted that the SMEDAN-MTN collaboration would support businesses across their growth needs, guided by their four-point GROW model – Guidance, Resources, Opportunities, and Workforce Development.
He added that SMEDAN has already created over 100,000 jobs within its two-year administration and expects the partnership to significantly boost job creation, business expansion, and nationwide enterprise modernisation.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is seeking review of the controversial Capital Gains Tax increase, fearing it will chase away foreign investors from the country’s capital market.
Nigeria’s new tax regime, which takes effect from January 1, 2026, represents one of the most significant changes to Nigeria’s tax system in recent years.
Under the new rules, the flat 10 per cent Capital Gains Tax rate has been replaced by progressive income tax rates ranging from zero to 30 per cent, depending on an investor’s overall income or profit level while large corporate investors will see the top rate reduced to 25 per cent as part of a wider corporate tax reform.
The chief executive of NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, said in a Bloomberg interview in Kigali, Rwanda that there should be a “removal of the capital gains tax completely, or perhaps deferring it for five years.”
According to him, Nigeria, having a higher Capital Gains Tax, will make investors redirect asset allocation to frontier markets and “countries that have less tax.”
“From a capital flow perspective, we should be concerned because all these international portfolio managers that invest across frontier markets will certainly go to where the cost of investing is not so burdensome,” the CEO said, as per Bloomberg. “That is really the angle one will look at it from.”
Meanwhile, the policy has been defended by the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, who noted that the new tax will make investing in the capital market more attractive by reducing risks, promoting fairness, and simplifying compliance.
He noted that the framework allows investors to deduct legitimate costs such as brokerage fees, regulatory charges, realised capital losses, margin interest, and foreign exchange losses directly tied to investments, thereby ensuring that they are not taxed when operating at a loss.
Mr Oyedele also said the reforms introduced a more inclusive approach to taxation by exempting several categories of investors and transactions.
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