Mr Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, has revealed that the African Development Bank (AfDB) will soon facilitate the establishment of an onion commodity exchange in the state.
According to the Governor, this was one of the outcomes of a high-level meeting he and some of his Commissioners had last week in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, with the bank’s management team.
According to a statement signed by his media aide, Mr Muhammad Bello, the Governor made this known last week at the conclusion of a three-day training for aspiring entrepreneurs in the state, adding that his administration was committed to supporting indigenous farmers.
If the plan is carried out, it will be the 15th of its kind in Africa and the fourth in Nigeria, following the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange, the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange, and AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited.
Trading on exchanges includes derivatives contracts such as forwards, futures, options, and spot trades, which focus on immediate delivery.
It could also be traded on interest rates, currency futures, freight contracts, and environmental instruments.
Mr Tambuwal revealed in the statement that “during our visit to the AfDB, we had engagements with them and agreed that an Onion Commodities Exchange will be established in Sokoto with the help of the bank on the framework and technical support.”
He cited an individual in Abidjan who transacts over N2.8 billion in onion trade annually from Sokoto-Côte d’Ivoire, adding that the results of a survey he commissioned revealed that the state engages in an annual transaction of between N250 and N300 billion from onion trade alone.
