The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said on Monday that 42 foreign investors from different European countries are being expected to invest in Nigeria by February, 2017.
Ogbeh, who disclosed this at a news briefing in Abuja, said that the development was the outcome of the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari and his team to Germany and Rome recently.
He said the investments were expected in agriculture, food processing, solar-power supply, ceramic tiles and building materials.
According to him, there will be a delegation of the European Union by February.
“A good number of them in agriculture, food processing, some in power supply with emphasis on solar energy for rural areas, ceramic tiles, building materials.
“We do not have the figure of how much they will invest yet,’’ he said.
The minister said that the Federal Government would, henceforth, provide official security in farms and industries of those investors to encourage foreign investments and economic diversification.
According to him, during the visit, the Federal Government delegation decided to extend cooperation among nations to learn from their experiences so that we can increase local production.
Ogbeh said that the issue of malnutrition in Nigeria was extensively discussed at a food and agriculture meeting in Rome during the visit.
He expressed regret that rural-urban migration was a major contributor to low milk production in cattle, hence the increase in malnutrition in children.
The minister explained that the Federal Government was working toward setting up grazing reserves to boost milk production in cattle.
“We want to learn from Brazil. Brazil has over 205 million cows which make production and processing of milk easier for them.
“In Nigeria, we have only about 15 million cows and these cows are mostly males. The females in them do not drink enough water to produce adequate quantity of milk.
“It means that we have a lot of work to do to increase the production of milk,’’ he said.
Ogbeh appealed to Nigerians to imbibe the habit of eating healthy foods to reduce malnutrition especially in children.
“We eat a lot of carbohydrate in this country. We must make changes, learn how to eat well to reduce our medical bills,’’ he advised.