Nigeria is set to hold the 16th edition of African Cashew Alliance in Abuja ,a Conference that will harmonise delegates and major stakeholders in the Sector, attract foreign investors and build partnership among sector members.
Mr Joseph Ajanaku, President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) made the disclosure on Friday during a media briefing in Abuja .
He said that it was going to be the biggest Cashew Summit ever held in Africa because it will attract a lot of business opportunities and influence some policies in the Sector.
The Conference with the theme“strengthening sustainable kernel and by-products marketing in the African cashew industry” will hold 12 to 15 Sept..
“One thing that stands out for Nigeria in this big event is that there will be significant opportunities for growth in Cashew nuts processing and production and businesses that will strengthen synergies .
Speaking earlier ,Mr Ernest Mintah ,Managing Director, African Cashew Alliance (ACA) said that the conference which holds annually has held 15th edition’s already.
“In different African Countries ,we have held 15 editions and am happy to see that this time it’s coming to Nigeria for the first time and holding in the Capital City of Abuja.
” Government and the private sector will be exchanging ideas , learning from experts globally to expand production in the Sector.” he added.
Mintah explained that while processing is growing in Nigeria, with about 10 percent it was still too little and still needs to be explored in order to generate more revenue and create employment for the youths”.
According to him, the largest volume was going to Vietnam in Indian and it’s a lot of jobs also being exported.
“If we are exporting the primary products we are getting one dollar 20 cent per kg to cover the farmers services, transport and export.
”If we process, we stand about three times of the Government accrued to the Government, we are also growing jobs,” he said.
He stated that for every thousand metric tonnes exported, Nigeria was losing about 300 jobs of processed cashew depending on the technology used which can create about 250-300 jobs .
“The crop and production is here, during the Conference, we won’t only be listening to experts speak, we will also do field visits to the various factories here and people will know how they are set up and opportunities to invest in.
He called on the Government to support Investment in the sector in Nigeria and increase the processing of Cashew in the Country.
Africa produces about 57 per cent of the total world production of Cashew yet we process only about 10 percent.
