By Dele Ogbodo
President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday called on JBS S.A, a Brazilian and global company to see the considerable potentials in the $2.5 billion livestock investment opportunities in Nigeria.
He said with Nigeria’s huge population given JBS S.A’s globally recognized expertise in the area of guaranteeing food security, it is safe to invest in Nigeria.
He said “We’ve heard so much about you in terms of the reputation, and we believe in the partnership we are forging today.
“Food security is extremely important. As we talk right now, there is hunger. However, there is huge hope. And you are one of those hopes that we are looking at.”
President Tinubu, said this Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Nigerian Government and the JBS S.A, one of the top three largest meat processing companies globally.
He said that his administration’s renewed focus in driving international and local investments into livestock sector of the agricultural value-chain will end the crisis of farmer-herder clashes, eradicate hunger and poverty in Nigeria as well as promote economic prosperity.
“What we are doing right now is that we are solving a problem that afflicted humanity in that part of Africa, clashes between farmers and migrating cows that have caused some life and bloodshed when there is a modern, civilized way to solve those problems and even bring a successful economy out of it.
“We are trying to turn a situation of tragedy, hopelessness into economic opportunity, see through problems and see the opportunity that is involved in it.”
Tinubu, told the JBS top executives that Nigeria is ready to do business with them, assuring them of a good return on their investment.
Prior to his visit to Brazil, President Tinubu, had commissioned a team of Nigerian officials and private sector players to take the advantage of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio to conduct a study tour of Sao Paulo, Brazil and explore the opportunities in livestock development, meat processing, seed development and multiplication for key grains.
In his remarks, the Minister of Livestock Development, Mr. Idi Mahia, who led the delegation, reported to the President that the team embarked on guided, extended and intensive tours of companies on the scale of their global reach, the integrated nature of their operations as well as the deployment of advanced technology.
He added that from their interactions with various companies, JBS S.A. was chosen being the second largest meat processing company in the world with the capacity to process 33,000 cattle daily and over eight million birds daily, using advanced zero-waste practices. The company employs over 200,000 people across its subsidiaries in more than 50 countries in the world including United States, Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.