Nigeria Fertilizer will stop imports by 2023

In March of this year, at a three-day seminar in Abuja, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture Sabo Nanono stated that Nigeria Fertilizer will stop imports by 2023.

Nanono said that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that Nigeria needs about 7 million tons of fertilizer each year, and the current output is 5 million tons, so the government has to approve the import of some fertilizer products.

Nanono stated that while providing a favorable environment for private sector investors, it passed the National Fertilizer Quality Control in 2019.
According to the “Regulation Law”, Nigeria may end product imports within the next two years.

Nanono said: “In the next two or three years, we may not need to import any more fertilizers. More importantly, I want to let the fertilizer plant know that we can produce the capacity we need. What we need to do is fill this gap and make Bring products to farmers.”

Nanono said that with the full implementation of the “Fertilizer Quality Control Act” after private companies have paid some prescribed fees,
A certificate of registration or sales permit is required to be approved to operate any fertilizer business in Nigeria.

Nanono stated that these costs are the lowest compared to other related sub-sectors and institutions and the ECOWAS subregion.

Nanono pointed out that the main goal of the fertilizer regulatory system is to increase agricultural productivity to ensure national food security, and this can only be achieved by providing high-quality fertilizers and other key agricultural inputs. The system will eliminate cases of fertilizer abuse across the country in terms of quality, adulteration, misleading publicity, and weight reduction.

Nanono said the bill will also protect private investments by manufacturers, mixers or distributors, Fertilizer production equipment, and other service providers in the fertilizer value chain.

Professor Yemi Akinseye-George, the legal adviser who formulated the bill, said when introducing the bill that the legal system is a tool for the government to ensure that private operators (mixers, manufacturers) produce high-quality fertilizers. The law provides for the prevention of abuse, such as adulteration of fertilizers,
And ensure proper labeling and branding, as the blender does not allow mixing fertilizers with sand or other products.

According to Akinseye-George, under the new law, adulterers of fertilizers can be sentenced to five years in prison, without the option of fines. judge
The court is now given the judicial power to hear cases of fertilizer adulteration. In the past, only the high courts had judicial power.