Niger State governor, Muhammad Umaru Bago, has decried the rate at which Africans rely heavily on food importation adding that, Africa currently imports $55 billion worth of food including maize, wheat oils, rice, and other agricultural products annually.

Bago said this when he met with the officials of Arab Contractors in Cairo Egypt, shortly after securing an agreement with the Egyptian giants on agricultural production.

The governor advocated the need for African leaders to take advantage of the potential of the African continent to reduce food importation.

Niger State with its enormous potential has adequate land and water with over 1,850 km of riverfront land for irrigation and a youthful population and 5 million hectares of arable land capable of producing 50 million tons of food,” he said.

The global Chairman of Arab Contractors, Ahmed Moustafa El Assar, promised Bago that he would visit Niger State in May 2025 along with the officials of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Irrigation Development to see how opportunities in agriculture can be explored.

He stated that the Government of Egypt is fully committed to the food security of Egypt and Nigeria.