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Cross section of participants at the workshop
By Anthony Maliki
The Managing Director/CEO of Nigeria Commodity Exchange, (NCX), Zaheera Baba-Ari has urged commodity traders and consumers in Bauchi State to patronize NCX trading floors in order to attract local and international agro-commodities trading business.
She said the Exchange is now equipped to give them the many benefits of an efficient and cost-effective commodity trading platform for the procurement of commercially viable volumes of high-quality commodities at the best prevailing market prices.
She made this known a capacity-building workshop for commodity exchange stakeholders in Bauchi Thursday.
The MD reminded the stakeholders that the exchange was established by government to avail buyers and sellers of Nigerian agro-commodities an organized trading platform.
established by government to avail buyers and sellers of Nigerian agro-commodities an organized trading platform.
Here is full speech of the MD:
ALL PROTOCOLS OBSERVED
It is with great honour that I welcome all the distinguished participants to this important occasion of Capacity Building workshop for stakeholders in the Commodity Exchange value chain in Bauchi state and environs.
INTRODUCTION
You may wish to know that Nigeria Commodity Exchange, NCX, was established by government to avail buyers and sellers of Nigerian agro-commodities an organized trading platform where there will be price discovery and the teeming small holder farmers will be able to warehouse their produce after harvest for sale at a later date when they will get remunerative prices.
As you may be aware, a major objective of government for setting up NCX is to emplace efficient and transparent trading of commercially viable Nigerian agro-commodities, leading to improved livelihood of the teeming farmers in the country, increased economic productivity and employment creation for Nigerians in all sphere of economic life of the nation.
CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP
This workshop is meant to enlighten actors in commodity trade sector of the state on the various aspects of NCX commodity trading operations as well as the mechanisms of its trading infrastructure; the training will be conducted by senior Management staff of the exchange.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is noteworthy to mention that this workshop has been held in the past in several other states across the country including FCT, Ogun, Benue, Kogi, Borno, Plateau, Anambra and Gombe, among others. Many more states will be covered under this exercise as time goes on.
BAUCHI STATE AGRO-COMMODITY TRADE SECTOR
Bauchi state holds a pride of place in the production of commercially viable agro-commodities such as sesame seed, shea nut, maize, sorghum, paddy rice, groundnut, coffee, cassava, yams, cotton and livestock, among others. It is in cognizance of this fact that NCX established two Delivery Warehouses in the state located in Gada Maiwa and Gidan Gona inside ADP office complex. The warehouses have since been commissioned.
It is thus imperative for commodity traders and consumers in Bauchi state to patronize NCX trading floors in order to attract local and international agro-commodities trading business as the Exchange is now equipped to give them the many benefits of an efficient and cost-effective commodity trading platform for the procurement of commercially viable volumes of high-quality commodities at the best prevailing market prices.
NCX COLLABORATION WITH FARMER GROUPS IN BAUCHI
NCX has since opened discussions aimed at creating a technical partnership with farmer groups and cooperatives in the state through the auspices of the state ministry of Commerce and Industry to encourage farmers to dispose their yields through the Exchange’s Trading Floors. Several meetings have been held in this regard and it is hoped that the proposed partnership would kickoff in the coming harvest season.
It is envisaged that the proposed technical partnership being facilitated by the state government will avail domestic and international consumers access to millions of tons of major agro-commodities that are available in the state.
PRESIDENTIAL MANDATE
International investors with interest in Commodity Export, Trading, Warehousing, Collateral Management, Logistics, Financing may wish to approach the Exchange for business due to envisaged boost in operations due to the recent Presidential mandate to selected government agencies to work towards ameliorating high food prices; there may be commercial opportunities for investors in the ecosystem that they can take advantage of in the immediate, medium and long term.
Ladies and gentlemen, please accept the assurances of my regards as I urge you all to actively participate in this very important workshop.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS
