By Ayo Akinfe
I hope Tinubu realises that he simply has to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with our former colonial masters Britain that will guarantee shelf space for Nigerian goods maybe starting with fruit
[1] One huge problem the UK will face now she is outside the European Union (EU) is that she will no longer enjoy duty-free supply of fruits and vegetables from the Mediterranean region. Trust the Spanish, Italians, Greeks, French and Portuguese, they will demand full market price for all the tropical fruits they sell to the UK from now on
[2] Companies like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Iceland, etc now have to buy their fruits from Southern Europe at global market prices. With the EU protection gone, Nigeria should be able to compete for access to the UK market alongside Southern European suppliers
[3] Nigeria is actually a significant fruit producer globally. We are the seventh largest pineapple producer (1.6m tonnes), sixth largest papaya producer (837,000 tonnes), 10th largest mango producer (917,000 tonnes) and 10th largest guava producer (790,000 tonnes)
[4] We need to start thinking about how to get our produce on to UK supermarket shelves. Matters that need addressing include supply guarantees, meeting international food safety standards and avoiding damage in transit
[5] President Tinubu needs to appoint a minister for foreign trade, who in turn needs to treat this as a matter of national urgency. He needs to get Nigeria’s main fruit producers to sit down with the likes of Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco, Iceland, etc to thrash out supply deals
[6] Maybe we should start off by compiling a list of Nigeria’s top 10 fruit producers. Which farmers lead the way when it comes to the production of pineapple, bananas, mangoes, oranges, papaya, etc
[7] Our supply costs are lower than many other global fruit producers due to lesser wages. Also, the fact that we are just below Europe gives us a competitive edge over suppliers in Asia and the Americas. Post-Brexit, fresh Nigerian fruit should be arriving in the UK every day in the hundreds of thousands tonnes
[8] What our producers need is refrigerated trucks to convey their fruit from farm to port, government approved warehouses that are secure and refrigerated and then training on modern pest control methods and international food safety standards. In return, they should be asked to offer supply guarantees underwritten by the Nigerian government for long term deals
[9] I want to see President Tinubu and Prime Minister Sunak sign a 10 year fruit supply deal that compels the likes of Sainsbury, Safeway, Tesco, etc to stock Nigerian produce
[10] I always try to remain optimistic, so live in hope that over the coming months, President Tinubu will seize the initiative and grab the moment. He should consider this the chance in a lifetime
