The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) has reiterated its continuous support to the growth and expansion of stock fish trade in the country.
The Director-General, Africa, Norwegian Seafood Council, Mr Trond Kostweit, said this during the council’s visit to the Otto-White Sand Stock Fish Market at Oyingbo on Tuesday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the council’s visit is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility efforts to promote the growth of the Nigerian stock fish sector.
According to Kostweit, the visit to the market is to see how the importers/traders are faring with the current economic situation of the country.
“It is very important for us to come here and talk to the traders and importers of stock fish and see if they are satisfied with the quality and the price level.
“It is very important to us that we bring the feedback from the people here on ground and take that information back to the producers and exporters from Norway.
“So we have been working for a long time to remove stock fish from the list with the objective of getting access to Forex cheaper than before and that would have brought the price of stock fish down.
“Unfortunately, there is insufficient forex in the economy presently and that means that the price has even increased since the produce was delisted from the Forex ban.
“We do hope that more dollars will be injected into the economy that will bring down the price of the produce,” Kostweit said.
The Chief Financial Officer of the Norwegian-African Business Association (NABA), Ms Solveig Tangen, said the importance of the Nigerian stock fish market to the Norway’s stock fish exports could not be overemphasized.
“We have 150 member-companies, many of them being Norwegians that operate across Africa in different sectors and the Norwegian Seafood Council is part of us. That is why we are here.
“Our job is to create a community across sectors, to create partnerships on the continent. Nigeria being an important country because of its huge aquaculture and fish markets.
“Norway is a big fish exporter but our job is also to understand how to create more of our partnerships across the whole industry. Not just exporting but understand building those relationships over time with Nigerian companies.
“So we are here to learn. We are here to understand the market factors in Nigeria and also want to bring that message back to Norway,” Tangen said.
Fisheries Consultant of the Norwegian Seafood Council, Mrs Abiodun Cheke, said the council was all out to support the importers/traders of stock fish to the best of its ability.
“We are here at the stock fish market as a council to see the produce and know its impact on Nigerians and to have a feel of what the Nigerian market is.
“We also want to feel the pulse of the importers, distributors, retailers and the consumers, What they go through buying and selling and eating Norwegian stock fish.
“Through the visit, we will teach and advise the traders on better ways to store and preserve the produce as well as proffer any assistance the traders may require.
“Trade is reciprocal. It is a two way thing. It is part of our social responsibility work to be able to promote the stock fish sector in Nigeria.
“The major complaints we have from the traders and importers is the fluctuating exchange rate that today is low and tomorrow extremely high, which is affecting business.
“We did not come for sight-seeing but to see the conditions of importers and traders and how we can assist as a council, ‘’ Cheke said.
According to her, we work well with the association here to see to the welfare of traders and importers of stock fish.
“We also want to thank the Federal Government for the initiative of delisting stock fish from Forex ban,” she said.
The Chairman, Aborigine Stock Fish Sellers Association, Otto- White Sand Market, Oyingbo, Mr Stephen Eze, commended the council for its continuous support to the sector’s growth.
“We have a good relationship with the Norwegian Seafood Council and we continue to seek their support in reducing the cost of the produce, because the higher the price, the lower the demand.
“We cannot blame the council for the current hike in stock fish price. It is due to the fluctuating Forex price with the Naira.
“With their visit today we also appeal to council to come and give some trade concessions to importers and traders to cushion the rising price of the produce.
“If they can help import some containers of the produce into the country, we can sell and give them their money and that will help the sector a lot,” Eze said.
