Nigeria joins $7tr global ‘Halal’ market – SON

Nigeria is set to benefit from one of the biggest global markets as it has joined the Standard Meteorology Institute of Islamic Countries, a standard organization arm of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, stated this in Kano on Thursday at a sensitisation workshop, organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to him, “A lot of African countries have joined before, and you don’t even have to be a Muslim to join. We have Halal market presently, and it is about $7 trillion for people to exchange their commodities based on Halal certification.

“The only way you can have the Halal certification is to join the Standard Organisation of Islamic Countries, where you can use some of the resources they have in their Halal institute to help set the standard.”

The SEC DG, Lamido Yuguda, said grading and standardisation would reduce the proliferation of sub-standard commodities in the market and encourage global acceptance of commodities produced in Nigeria.

“We are working closely with SON to create awareness for existing agricultural commodities standards, but more essentially to obtain feedback from stakeholders on the standards to be presented for consideration of stakeholders at this workshop to trigger a review of inadequate standards if and where applicable,” the SEC DG said.

Kano State Deputy Governor and Commissioner for Agriculture, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, said, “Government agencies must understand that to succeed, it is not about competition, but collaboration and not in trying to outshine others. So, I must recommend SEC and SON on this.”