Following the import restriction by the Federal Government, Norway has shifted its N87.5billion ($125million) annual herring and mackerel fish export to Nigeria to Germany and Poland....CONTINUE READING
Findings revealed that about 66 per cent of its export volume had been shifted to the two new markets after lobby to ensure that Federal Government remove import restriction had failed…..CONTINUE READING
In 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) listed fish and other seafood among items not valid for forex from the official interbank market. Nigeria is traditionally Norway’s large herring market for herring and mackerel, followed by Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo.
Senior Advisor, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kjemprud Jens-Petter, said that Nigeria imported fishery products worth $125 million from Norway annually. He said: “Annually, Norwegian fish exports to Nigeria stand at $125 million and these include stock fish, pelagic fish, mainly mackerel and salmon. “We are interested in expanding our market access and consider the upper market salmon to have further potential.
We believe it would be possible to double our exports considering the huge Nigerian market and the current recovery of the Nigerian economy.” He blamed the sharp drop on foreign exchange restriction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The restriction, according to him, was responsible for the rising cost of stockfish in Nigerian market, which was included among the 44 items not valid for foreign exchange window.
However, at the Lagos Port Complex, only three vessels are being expected this month with 13,300 tonnes of fish. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s shipping data indicated that Green Freezer would discharge 4,350 tonnes; Boyang Alas-ka, 4,750 tonnes and Green Austevoll, 4, 200 tonnes in March 2023. It would be recalled that the Federal Government complained last year that importation of 2.4 million metric tonnes of frozen fish annually was taking a toll on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Mahmood, said that Nigeria’s annual fish demand was 3.6 million metric tonnes, but only 1.2million tonnes was produced domestically.
Mahmood said: “Nigeria is a very large country and we need about 3.6million tonnes per annum but we are able to produce only 1.2million tonnes through the artisanal, industrial and aquaculture. “The deficit is being supplemented by frozen fish importation, which is being used to bridge the gap. It is not actually that we are going to have 2.5 million metric tonnes brought into the country, but we have a situation that we supplement with frozen fish imports.
I will not be able to quantify the cost, but I know that it is a toll on our foreign exchange.” He added that importation of fish was being regulated by the CBN, explaining that only the bank’s governor issues Form- M to those who want to bring frozen fish into the country.
Last year that former Chairman of Nigeria Fishing Trawler Owners Association (NIFTOA), Mrs Margret Orakwusi said in Lagos that poor regulation was one of the challenges killing the country’s fishing sector. Also, she identified poor infrastructure, security issues and sabotage as among the challenges facing fishing business in the country. Orakwusi explained that the operating environment for those into fishing business in the country was very harsh, describing the fishing business as having the potential of creating huge employment opportunities.
