Economy
Sanwo-Olu Foresees Lagos as Largest Food Logistics Hub in West Africa
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has disclosed that the first phase of the largest food logistics hub in West Africa will be inaugurated in the state by 2024 to boost food security.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said this while addressing journalists at the grand finale of the 2023 World Food Day celebration at the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday. The programme tagged Farm Fair, Shop, Eat and Learn was to commemorate the 2023 World Food Day with the theme Water is Life, Water is Food, Leave No One Behind.
World Food Day is an annual celebration by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations on October 16, to encourage action on food insecurity.
“Apart from the middle-level markets that we are building, we are building the largest food logistics hub in the whole of West Africa.
“You were part of the ground-breaking ceremony which we did last year and I want to inform you that before middle-level next year, we should have finished phase one of the project.
“It is the largest logistics hub in the whole of West Africa, you can take a trip there independently and see for yourself, the amount of work that is going on there.
“That logistics food market is supposed to be the central hub where all sorts of food in Lagos will come in, it has cold storage and dry storage and all sorts.
“Our plan, if you remember that two years ago, we flagged with our five-year plan, it will now take them to the middle-level market; we have built about three of them and we are building an additional five.
“The middle-level markets will now take it from main hubs before it now goes to the last mile, the corner show markets and the markets that all of you see in the state,” he said.
The governor said the state had a robust integrated plan that would ensure food sufficiency and food adequacy in Lagos.
He noted that the plan became important because food security globally was becoming an issue.
“We have a robust integrated plan to ensure that food sufficiency, and food adequacy in Lagos are secured because food security globally is becoming an issue.
“For us as a government, we need to be able to help the market, we need to be able to help the farmers and to help our citizens.”
“We will continue to bring about infrastructure and funding to ensure that the theme for this year leaves no one behind,” he said.
The governor encouraged more people to go into rice cultivation to sustain the state’s rice mill in Imota, Ikorodu.
“We are looking for paddy rice growers in Lagos because we have the biggest rice mill and we are also collaborating with other states.
“Our rice mill still needs a lot of paddy. It does not matter the quantity of tonnes of paddy that they grow, we will buy it from them.
“The same thing with other paddy growers in the country and we need to begin to ensure that food is also affordable and accessible.
“We know that the price of food has gone up but with intervention like this, that brings the market closer to the consumers, am sure that all of the produce that has been brought here today will be picked up and bought up,” he said.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said his administration was committed to encouraging farmers while assuring that farming was important to his administration to ensure that food was affordable and accessible for all.
“I am here this afternoon to give them all the encouragement, to show to the world that Lagos can begin to show the way for urban farming.
“We do not have a lot of land but the little one that we have, we are encouraging our farmers to continue to support the needs of the citizens because we know that we need to grow what we eat and eat what we grow.
“We can collaborate with other neighbouring states and other parts of the country to bring all of these produce to Lagos because the population is here.
“For me, it is to continue to encourage the Ministry of Agric and all of their officers, extension workers and project managers to continue to help and hold these farmers, especially in the aquaculture farming, piggery, fishing, poultry and all of the other areas in which we can excel.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, said the removal of petrol subsidy saved Nigeria N15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025.
Mr Oyedele disclosed this on Wednesday at a press conference, where he provided a breakdown of the financial impact of the federal government’s economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu, the same day that the campaign for the 2027 presidential elections commenced.
He said the subsidy savings were reflected in the resources available to the federation, although they did not appear as a separate credit to the federation account under the description “subsidy savings”.
“Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised the sum of N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation.
“Many people will say, where is the subsidy savings? As a matter of fact, there wasn’t any alert to the Federation Account with the description ‘subsidy savings’,” Mr Oyedele said.
According to the minister, the federal government received N5.4 trillion of the N15.8 trillion, while N10.4 trillion was shared among state and local governments through the Federation Account.
Mr Oyedele said the government’s overall financial position during the period also reflected increased independent revenue and borrowing to fund its expenditure.
He said the federal government generated N3.1 trillion in incremental independent revenue, largely from remittances by government-owned entities and increased surpluses from government agencies.
The government also borrowed an additional N11.9 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025.
“People will say, you said you have exceeded your revenue, why are you still borrowing?” Mr Oyedele said, “The additional borrowing that the federal government took for that period of time, June 2023 to December 2025, amounted to N11.9 trillion.”
According to him, the combination of incremental independent revenue and additional borrowing brought the Federal Government’s incremental resources during the period to N20.4 trillion.
However, he said total incremental expenditure stood at N30.64 trillion.
Mr Oyedele said the figures demonstrated the fiscal implications of the reforms, which were introduced to address long-standing economic distortions and reduce pressure on government finances.
“The administration of President Bola Tinubu has embarked on major reforms to address age-long economic challenges,” he said.
He identified the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market as key measures undertaken by the administration.
“The removal of fuel subsidy, which was quietly bankrupting the country, and the unification of an exchange rate system that had become a source of distortion and corruption rather than stability.
“Those decisions came at a cost, and we are not here to implement otherwise. What does reform cost?” Mr Oyedele questioned.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened further by 1.75 per cent on Tuesday, August 18, triggered by losses recorded by the duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Food Concepts Plc.
CSCS Plc, the Nigerian securities depository company, lost N8.48 to settle at N90.02 per share compared with the previous value of N98.50 per share, while Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food franchise, Chicken Republic, dropped 15 Kobo to end at N2.35 per unit versus N2.50 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) further declined by 77.26 points to 4,348.76 points from Monday’s 4,426.02 points, while the market capitalisation dipped by N46.37 billion to N2.610 trillion from N2.656 trillion.
During the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors slumped by 82.6 per cent to 113,728 units from the previous session’s 652,081 units, and the value of securities slid by 12.4 per cent to N9.4 million from the preceding day’s N10.7 million, while the number of deals increased by 47.6 per cent to 31 deals from 21 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.7 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Nigerian Naira further appreciated against the US Dollar by N6.22 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, August 18, to N1,343.32/$1 from the previous rate of N1,349.54/$1.
This occurred amid steady growth in Nigeria’s external reserves, rising to $52.32 billion as of August 17, 2026, giving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough arsenal to defend the local currency when the need arises in the FX market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N10.85 to close at N1,819.26/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,830.11/£1, and gained N8.55 on the Euro to sell at N1,556.24/€1 versus Monday’s N1,564.79/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar in the black market during the trading session by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1, in contrast to the N1,395/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and strengthened at the GTBank forex desk by N7 to N1,357/$1 from N1,364/$1.
NAFEM interbank FX turnover declined as financial institutions’ activities moderated. Interbank FX turnover dropped by 16.6 per cent to $364.709 million from $437.529 million, with the number of deals down by 39.3 per cent to 108 deals from 178 deals.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $64,120.36, as most other major cryptocurrencies closed in the green amid a global selloff in chip stocks.
An Asian semiconductor gauge dropped more than 3 per cent, following a 5 per cent slide in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday, its worst session since late July, while investors await US Federal Reserve minutes and are widely expecting no rate change in September.
Solana (SOL) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $76.66, Cardano (ADA) added 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.1748, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.6 per cent to $1,905.54, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.9986, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.3 per cent to $0.3327, and Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 0.2 per cent to $0.0698.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $600.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
