TEHRAN- The Minister of Agriculture, referring to the trend of trade exchanges between Iran and African countries, said: “According to customs exchange statistics, Iran’s trade with Africa in the first nine months of the past Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 21-December 21, 2025) reached about 940 million dollars, which shows a 66 percent growth compared to the same period in the preceding year.”

Making the remarks in the First National Meeting on Iran-Africa Agricultural Cooperation, the minister said that this amount of trade, despite significant growth, is still far from existing capacities, and added: “This figure is still limited compared to the capacity of the large market of the African continent with more than one billion people.”

According to him, “This number is small, but its direction of movement is correct, and economic cooperation between the two sides must be expanded through planning.”

Nouri Qezeljeh, referring to the share of agricultural products in Iran-Africa trade, stated: “About two-thirds of Iran’s imports from the African continent are related to food and agricultural products. Therefore, cooperation in this sector should not be limited to one-way trade; rather, it must move toward the formation of joint value chains, mutual investment, and technology transfer.”

The Minister of Agriculture further mentioned a priority as removing executive obstacles and strengthening communication among responsible institutions and said: “Economic actors, in order to enter into sustainable cooperation, need clear procedures, reliable transportation, practical payment mechanisms, insurance and investment coverage, and predictable regulations. Therefore, in the area of tariffs and trade facilitation, with the participation of relevant bodies, the capacity of bilateral agreements and regional mechanisms can be examined.”

Nouri Qezeljeh, emphasizing the necessity of continuously following up on executive obstacles, stated: “The problems of each project must be clearly identified and recorded, the responsible body must be designated to follow it up, and the progress of the work must be evaluated within clear time frames.”

In the beginning of the First National Meeting on Iran-Africa Agricultural Cooperation, the minister stressing that opportunities for joint agricultural cooperation with Africa are available and must be converted into concrete, operational, and lasting economic ties.

The meeting was attended by ambassadors, economic counselors, honorary consuls, officials from executive bodies, economic associations, entrepreneurs, investors, and more than 200 economic actors. The minister said this broad participation provided a valuable opportunity to translate the political will for expanding Iran-Africa relations into specific projects and durable economic partnerships.

MA