FG promises high quality agric products on commodity trading platform

The Federal Government says it will not compromise the quality of the agricultural commodities being traded on the country’s Commodity Exchange Platform.

The Managing Director of the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX), Mrs Zaheera Baba-Ari, said this at a three-day training organised by the Commodity Brokers’ Association of Nigeria (CBAN) for its operators.

Baba-Ari said that the Exchange would ensure that the quality of products traded on the platform are of the highest quality.

According to her, quality control is one of the key things that the NCX is looking at as it seeks to win over buyers and sellers from the open commodity market.

Baba-Ari said that the exchange was critical to the nation’s quest for economic diversification, especially by being a destination of standard agricultural products for exporters.

She said that the viability of the exchange platform would also increase the nation’s agricultural productivity and also improve the income and livelihood of farmers.

The managing director said the training was part of efforts by the NCX to sensitise the public on how the community exchange operates and its numerous benefits to farmers and other stakeholders.

“The essence is to educate stakeholders, especially farmers, on how to trade on the system and use it to generate revenue for themselves and for the country,” she said.

The NCX Head of Quality Control, Dr Khadijat Abdulaziz, said as a market that facilitates trade between commodity buyers and sellers, the issue of quality was very important.

“We have to look at what makes a buyer to buy through the exchange without going to the open market. This consideration is the issue of quality.

“It is very important for participants, members and potential exchange players to know what quality is all about and get familiar with the terminologies because some of them might become warehouse operators and some brokers.

“So, as brokers when they receive orders from their clients to buy or sell certain commodities through the exchange, they must be familiar with the terms used to describe quality,” she said.

Similarly, the Head of Market Information System, NCX, Mr Oladotun Abiodun, said with the commodity exchange, the rejection of agricultural products from Nigeria at the international or local market would no longer arise.

“This is why we try to make participants understand that trading on the commodity exchange is all about quality certification and assurance,” he said.

The Coordinator of CBAN in the North Central Zone, Mr Ashaq Yahaya, said the training was designed to build the capacity of farmers, processors and marketers on quality control, among others.

This, he said, was to improve the quality of the country’s agricultural exports to drive the economic diversification vision of the present administration.

He said also that the participants would go through the second and third training, Intermediate and Advance respectively by November before becoming certified brokers.

One of the participants, Mr Abdullahi Maidoya, an exporter from Kano, said he had learnt a lot concerning the exchange of communities locally and internationally.

He said the training had increased his knowledge on proper storage, how to maintain contract without conflict and how to handle challenges.

Our correspondent reports that the training centred on the foundation of commodity exchange operations and participants were drawn from CBAN, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Chartered Institute of stockbrokers, among others.