He’s done it to boost local agriculture.

Tweeting through his spokesman, Nigerian President Muhamadu Buhari says don’t give a cent to anybody to import food into the country.

He maintains foreign reserves must be used to diversify the economy, not to encourage more dependence on foreign  food imports.

With more than 200 million people and a growing middle class, Nigerian are eating more and more beef.

They eat half the meat consumed in all of West Africa.

The current consumption of 360 000 tons a year is expected to quadruple by 2050.

The semi-nomadic Fulani herders supply all they  can raise, but Nigeria has to import beef to meet the demand.

The post Buhari blocks food imports to Nigeria appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.