Agadir – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has thanked Morocco for supporting Nigerian efforts to produce fertilizers.
Speaking to the local press, President Buhari reassured the Nigerian population of the full and transparent implementation of his government’s 2021 action plan. As part of the effective implementation of the plan, the president noted Nigeria’s turn towards agriculture to strengthen and diversify the country’s economy.
“We are still grateful to Morocco for the support they gave us in producing fertilizer in the country. We have 42 companies producing fertiliser in six geopolitical zones,” said Buhari.
President Buhari’s comments come as Morocco’s Office Cherifien de Phosphates (OCP) cements its continental status as African governments’ leading partner on the agriculture front.
Since announcing its African venture plan, OCP Africa, in 2016, the Moroccan company has become the go-to destination for most African actors interested in improving crop production and meeting food security challenges.
In Nigeria, OCP Africa has played a significant role in bringing to life the Nigerian government’s fertilizer plant projects.
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OCP’s contributions to Nigeria’s efforts to alleviate local food insecurity have helped accelerate the pace of the increasingly warming relations between Morocco and Nigeria. Another major, much-reported project between the two African giants is the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project.
In a telephone conversation with King Mohammed VI on January 31, the Nigerian president expressed his country’s determination to materialize, “as soon as possible,” the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project.
Illustrating Morocco’s pan-African vision, the pipeline will benefit a population of more than 300 million Africans across Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.
According to many observers, OCP Africa’s successes in Nigeria and the pipeline project are two pillars of the vastly improved connections between Rabat and Abuja.
