A head of the United Nations Summit, Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria would pursue a transformative private sector-led approach to food systems reform to position the country as a continental leader in agricultural innovation.

He also hinted that the government was ever ready to introduce single-digit credit facilities to finance agricultural ventures, similar to how countries like South Korea supported industrial conglomerates in their early development.

The Vice President made this remarks yesterday during a brief – ing by the Task Force on the 2nd UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4), co-hosted by Ethiopia and Italy at the Presidential Villa, while outlining a framework that would reshape Nigeria’s approach to food security by empowering private enterprise through government support structures.

He said: “Our role as a government is to derisk, catalyse and convene. We will be active in policy formulation and support structures. We should allow the private sector to drive the process.

“Even if it involves supporting the finance needs of the agricultural sector by giving them singledigit credit facilities, we will do it.

“That was how countries like South Korea developed by supporting the chaebols.” Shettima outlined three key objectives for Nigeria’s delegation to the Ethiopia-Italy co-hosted summit, which include positioning Nigeria as a thought leader on African food systems reform, leveraging international partnerships aligned with domestic priorities, and advancing a private sector-led model for continental food transformation.