Ghana, Six Others Spend $1 bn on Rice Importation

Vice-President of the African Development Bank (ADB) in charge of Operations in the West and Central African Region, Mr. Olabisi Ogunjobi, has disclosed that seven West African countries, including Ghana, spend about $1 billion annually on the importation of rice. The six other countries are the Republic of Benin, Gambia, Nigeria, Guinea, Mali, and Sierra Leone.

Ogunjobi regretted that food imports of this magnitude represents major drain on resources, which ordinarily would have been used for broader development and poverty reduction programmes.

A statement from the Bank noted that Ogunjobi disclosed this recently in Tunisia at the signing of a loan and a grant agreement amounting to 21.99 million units of accounts (UA), equivalent to $30.29 million between the ADB and seven West African countries to finance the multinational New Rice for Africa (NERICA) dissemination Project.

Ogunjobi, the statement noted, signed for the ADB, while the Ministers of Finance of Sierra Leone and Benin, Messrs. Joseph Bandabla Dauda and Gregoire Laourou signed the loan of N3.58 billion or $27.55 (an equivalent of 20 million UA) and the grant of N4.65 million or $2.74 million (an equivalent of 1.99 million UA) on behalf of the seven countries.

The objective of the project, ADB explained, is to enhance rice production and import substitution. It is also expected to contribute to poverty reduction and food security among the participating countries through enhanced access to high yielding NERICA upland rice varieties.