The Lagos State Government has signed an agreement with the Lagos Commodities and Future Exchange (LCFE) and key capital market operators to provide sustainable finance to the commodities ecosystem through the generation of tradable financial instruments.
This significant stride makes Lagos State the first sub-national to move from infrastructure finance through the capital market to commodities finance, towards becoming a major hub for commodities trading for agricultural products in Africa.
Speaking at the ceremony held recently at Alausa, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture and Rice Mill Initiative, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola said the partnership was a historic development that would ensure liquidity to support the continuous supply of paddy for the Rice Mill in Imota and availability of finished rice in the market.
He commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the vision, strong support, and leadership role that brought about the consummation of the partnership, just as he applauded all stakeholders that collaborated with the government to engender the successful take-off of the deal.
Fashola said, “We are delighted with this partnership and with this development, Lagos State has become the first sub-national that will have such an engagement with a commodities exchange. A lot has been said about the consumption of rice in Lagos and I am sure everyone would have eaten rice at least once this week”.
“Our per capita consumption of rice is the highest in Nigeria and it is one of the highest in Africa. It is about 40 kilogram per person per year and that is almost 50kg of rice per year and if that is multiplied by our population of over 22 million, the demand for rice in Lagos will be better situated”, the Special Adviser stated.
Describing the Eko Rice as the best in Nigeria today, Fashola said the Lagos rice mill in Imota has come to challenge the status quo about the quality of rice, and that there was a need to ensure the ceaseless flow of raw material to make it function optimally.
“Imota mill will be requiring over 200,000 tonnes of paddy annually. It is not cheap. In Nigeria as of today, that is going into almost N100 billion, and N100 billion of taxpayers’ money being taken from the government.”
