The presidency yesterday threw its weight behind the staging of the 1st International Potato Value Chain and other Root crops Conference and Exhibition (IPVC). The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, gave this validation yesterday, when he received the organizers of the Expo in his office in Abuja. He was also decorated as a Chief Ambassador of programme. Promising to physically attend the event, now rescheduled to take place from November 16 to 18, 2021, in Jos, the Plateau State capital, he said that the idea of the Expo is novel and in tandem with the objectives of the Federal government’s desire to diversify the economy and attract Direct Foreign Investment through Agriculture. The event was earlier scheduled to hold September 14 to 16, 2021 but was shifted to November due to the sudden crises in Jos. Speaking through the Permanent Secretary in the office of the SGF on Political and Economy, Mr. Andrew David Adejo, the SGF said that “the federal government will support the Expo because it is in line with the economic diversification of Nigeria’s economy” He advised that the title of the conference and exposition should be 1st International Potato and Root Crops Value Chain Conference and Exhibition saying that processing potato and other root crops into other by-products is the way to go, bearing in mind that doing so will lead to appropriate standardization of the products, the establishment of multiple industries and earning of foreign exchange for the country. Earlier, the Managing Director of the ABG Paulas, Resources Limited, Organizers of the Programme, Mr. Ambrose Okojie, had called on the Federal government to support the programme. He explained that the desire of the programme is to attract for the country foreign direct investment especially in the areas of the production, preservation, processing, packaging and promotion of the products of potato and other root crops in Nigeria. Mr. Okojie who is a member of Nigerian Diaspora community in Germany, revealed that ABG Paulas is organizing the programme along with the plateau state government and the validations of Grimme in Germany, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, NISIRAL, Pottinger in Australia, German Agribusiness Alliance, the African Union, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria and Several other organizations. Also speaking, the Executive Director, Strategy, Communication and Media of ABG Paulas Resources Limited, Mr. Charles Ozoemena, had told the SGF that ABG Paulas, is in full support of the government’s commitment in Agriculture, hence “we in Diaspora decided to come home to join hands in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in one area that is crying for development in Agriculture, which is the Potato and root crops value chain. “There is a huge market for this root crops with about 500 million population market in West Africa alone staring at Nigeria, awaiting the production and supply of the potato and its root crops “We have come to ignite the attraction of chains of investments into Plateau State from the private sector-local and international. We’ve met with stakeholders in Europe on how to develop the complete Value chain in Plateau State- Mechanized cultivation, production, storage, Processing, Packaging and promotion “But first we have to develop the required roadmap that will change the economy of plateau for the good of the government and the good people of Plateau State, Ozoemena said.
