IRISH-NIGERIAN DAIRY SEMINAR IS MAIN EVENT ON DAY TWO OF WEST AFRICA TRADE MISSION
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney T.D. today hosted a major dairy seminar in Lagos, the business capital of Nigeria on day two of his trade mission to West Africa. The event, organised by Bord Bia, marks aims to increase Ireland’s exposure to this fast growing market and was in addition to other promotional events in Lagos promoting the Irish education, ICT and energy sectors.
Minister Coveney commented “today’s seminar was very much about building on our existing strong dairy trade with Nigeria and exploring where future collaboration might occur from both a Nigerian and Irish perspective. We know that world dairy consumption is projected to rise considerably over the next 10 years and that much of this will be driven by Africa and countries like Nigeria with strong population increases forecasted. This rising demand coincides with our ambitious strategy, Food Wise 2025, for growing our dairy sector now that quotas are abolished and our target to grow dairy output by 50% in just five years means that we can play a leading role in meeting this growing global demand”.
Irish dairy exports to Nigeria were worth over €140m in 2014 which was up some 50% since 2010 and represent a growing slice of our dairy exports which last year reached €3.1bn. This marks Nigeria as a market greater in size than the US for Irish dairy exports thus giving an indication of its importance. Market analysis predicts that medium term prospects for global dairy markets are good, with growth in world population and wealth expected to stimulate strong levels of demand for dairy products.
Minister Coveney added “With more than 85% of Irish dairy production being exported and one third of the value of these exports going outside the EU, it is imperative that the Irish dairy sector continues to source sustainable third country markets particularly now that our output is expanding since quotas were abolished. Today’s event was about demonstrating to key Nigerian buyers and companies that Irish dairy sector is one which combines the best of cutting edge technology, consumer friendly products with verifiable sustainability and food safety claims”.
The dairy event was organised by Bord Bia whose Chief Executive, Aidan Cotter commented that "today’s event allowed us to bring the Origin Green message to a large and rapidly expanding market for Irish dairy products. Our new and existing customers were assured that through this unique national programme Ireland can supply the growing Nigerian demand for sustainably produced food in a future when more food will be required while protecting the world`s natural resources.”
Concluding the Minister commented that “we know Ireland is the natural home of dairy production and that our claims around the quality and safety of our produce are undoubted. The relationship in the dairy sector between our two countries in this area is a perfect example of how a large country with an expansive market like Nigeria can build a relationship with a smaller country like Ireland.
This can be a partnership not just about trade but also about one of Nigeria becoming an even stronger base for Irish investment in the region, some of which from the likes of Kerry and Ornua I will be visiting in the coming days. My message to the Nigerian companies and buyers today is to join with us as we expand this relationship even further”.
Comments
Post a Comment