August 1, 2016

Mexican banana company, San Carlos Group, has partnered with Nigeria’s Cross River State government to establish 3,000 hectares of banana plantations in Nigeria.

The Cross River government has stated that it has acquired 250 hectares of land in the Odukpani Local Government area of the state for the development of an initial pilot plantation, which will launch the project that is expected to help diversify Nigeria’s economy, according to Nigeria’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Professor Anthony Eneji.

“(The) government is determined to take agriculture to a sustained commercial level capable of replacing oil as a major source of revenue,” Eneji told the New Agency of Nigeria during a meeting with the Okoyong Council of Chiefs regarding the land for the project, reports Bella Naija.

The public-private partnership is also expected to improve the region’s road network and raise employment opportunities for the local workforce.

With 80,000 hectares of bananas under cultivation, and expanding acreage in Veracruz, Colima, Nayarit, and Jalisco, Mexico is the twelfth largest banana producer in the world. And given the improvement in crop quality the country has seen, and its expanding acreage, the country has increasingly been seeking to grow its exports and gain overseas market share.

“We want to increase our export volume every year and consolidate our position in overseas markets,” Adrián Prats, president of the National Council of Banana Producers told Fruit Net, adding that Mexican banana exports to China could begin as early as the first half of 2016.

—

Lynda Kiernan