Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, expressed his country’s readiness to enhance collaboration with Nigeria to promote sustainable agriculture within the African nation.
Freeman, who also serves as the Permanent Representative of Israel to ECOWAS, revealed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN on Tuesday in Abuja. He shared these insights on the sidelines of an executive roundtable organized by Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State and members of the diplomatic community.
The roundtable was organised to make the business investment climate in the state more visible.
“Israel has got a strong partnership with Nigeria and we are looking to strengthen our partnership with the states of the federation as well.
“At our level, we want to partner with the Government of Cross River, particularly in the area of the blue economy that is there.
“We are going to work together in the areas of rice, cassava, and cocoa production.
“We hope there are also other areas we can take advantage of, such as resistant seedlings, fungus-resistant seedlings, and drought-resistant seedlings.
“We are also going to adapt to the climate and the soil that has a very low salinity in Cross River.
“This means there are specific types of plants that will work and specific types of jobs we want to work on to enable the state to become a breadbasket for Nigeria and Africa,” Freeman said.
He added that although no agreement has been signed, the cost implication of the investment between Israel and Cross River will be massive.
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“I am not going to put numbers to it because it all depends on what the area of investment is, what the needs are for Cross River, and what the needs are for Israel.
“We will have conversations with all of the people relevant to it and find the appropriate levels in the places for investment for the mutual benefit of Israel and Cross River.
“This needs to be a partnership. It needs to be something that both sides are benefiting from.
“If it is a one-way relationship or one-way budget, then it is not sustainable,” he added.
