By Franklin Alli & Dotun Ibiwoye
NIgeria-Danish Chamber of Commerce has hailed the reduction of  government agencies at the seaports from fourteen to five.

“The reduction in the port tariffs and the pruning of the government agencies at the seaports were part of the many recommendation of the Chamber to the minister of Finance in October last year,” said the President of the Chamber, Prince Koya Adako.

According to him, the population of Nigeria and modernising the business environment has led to greater confidence in the economy. the Chamber was established to enlighten and generate relevant ideas to stimulate economic activities and growth in Nigeria and Denmark.

“The Chamber also promotes data and information on Nigeria’s economy and bring to its fold all organisation doing business with Denmark. The major operational problem facing the Chamber is the closure of the Danish Embassy and which has forced Nigerians to go to Benin Republic, the nearest embassy of Denmark,”he said.

Earlier, speaking during the investiture ceremony of Adako as the Chamber’s new President , Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, pointed out that the tool for diversification and growth of the Nigerian economy from the petroleum to the agricultural industry is by taking advantage of the 80 per cent of the  work force directly and indirectly engaged in agriculture.

With over 80 per cent of the population of the country living in rural and semi-urban areas agriculture still remains a mainstay of the county’s economy.

Represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Misan Ukubeyinje, Uduaghan stressed that only about 20 per cent of the GDP and 10 per cent of total exports from the country is left for  other sectors.

There is a need to drive the agro-allied base of the economy with much vigor in order to realize meaningful investment and invigorate the sector appropriately.