Over 3,000 Nigerian products, including cocoa and cashew, can now enter the UK market either duty-free or at reduced tariffs. This is according to the United Kingdom.

The Country Director for the UK Department for Business and Trade, Mark Smithson, announced this move, which is part of the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), in a recent video released by the UK in Nigeria.

Smithson in a statement said, “Up to 3,000 products from Nigeria qualify for low tariff or no tariff access to the UK through the Developing Countries Scheme, one of the most generous trading schemes in the world,”.

Speaking further, he said the UK has simplified the process for Nigerian exporters by making it easier to trade a variety of goods, including cocoa and textiles, among others. He encouraged Nigerian exporters to take advantage of the opportunity.

“The UK is open and looking to do business with Nigeria. So why don’t you go to the website and find out more about the Developing Countries Trading Scheme and begin to trade with us?”

The DCTS, which was introduced in 2023, replaced the UK’s previous Generalised Scheme of Preferences. It is designed to cut tariffs and simplify trading rules for over 60 developing countries, including Nigeria.

In a related development,Cross River State government, in partnership with a leading agribusiness firm, JR Farms, has launched an ambitious project to cultivate 30 million coffee seedlings across the state.

A statement to the media on Monday noted that the initiative, which was flagged off in Calabar on Thursday, signals a renewed national drive to position Nigeria as a competitive player in the global coffee market. With its focus on job creation, rural development, and climate resilience, the project is expected to become one of the largest coffee cultivation projects in West Africa.

In his speech at the event, Governor Bassey Otu described the initiative as a strategic move to reintroduce and reposition Cross River as the coffee capital of Nigeria and an emerging player in the international coffee market.

“With 30 million robust and climate-appropriate seedlings being distributed across our 18 local government areas, this project offers much more than cultivation. It is about creating jobs, generating wealth, building sustainable livelihoods, promoting agro-industrial development, and restoring our ecological balance.

“We are particularly proud of the strategic partnership with JR Farms, whose global footprint in the agrifood space and expertise in coffee value chains bring tremendous value to this initiative. Through their involvement, we are assured of technical support, market access, and international best practices in every aspect of implementation,” Otu said.

In his remarks, Olawale Rotimi-Opeyemi, JR Farms CEO and founder stressed the significance of the project, noting that after nearly a decade of working in the coffee value chain across East Africa, engaging over 4,000 farmers, his company was excited to bring that experience home to support Nigeria’s coffee industry transformation.

Olawale, who commended the Cross River state government’s commitment to agricultural development, said the 30 million coffee seedling cultivation project would engender prosperity for the people, ensure rural development, create jobs for youth and women, and place the state on the global map of coffee production.

The JR Farms CEO disclosed that with years of operations in Nigeria, Rwanda, France, and Zambia, his company would deploy its extensive wealth of experience in coffee production and global marketing to ensure the long-term success of the project and help Cross River become a major player in the international coffee market.

He explained that farmers across the state would be trained through a “Train-the-Trainer” model covering agronomic practices, ethical production, and the economics of coffee farming. According to him, 11,000 coffee farmers across the state have been onboarded under the project.

Olawale added that JR Farms would work with the State Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation Development to establish coffee washing stations in different parts of the state for post-harvest processing and also open communication channels for real-time technical support for farmers.