AfDB Reaffirms Commitment to Nigeria’s Agricultural Devt

Gilbert Ekugbe

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has restated its commitment to developing the Nigerian agricultural sector, noting that the sector has the potentials to be the powerhouse in food provision for the continent and the world at large.

The President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, stated this when he received four Nigerian state governors and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) at the bank’s Abidjan head office.

Adesina stated the meeting with the governors was to discuss the rapid rollout of the first phase of the bank’s Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) program in their states.

Besides, the Bank’s board of directors approved $160 million loan in December 2021 to get the programme underway in seven Nigerian states and Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

He stated that the AfDB set up the SAPZ program to support inclusive and sustainable agro-industrial development in countries across the continent.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to preside over a ceremony in Nigeria in February to officially launch the first phase of the SAPZ programme in the country.

The ceremony is also expected to attract the presence of the Presidents of the AfDB, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

He said that an additional co-financing of $150 million for the first phase of the programme from the IFAD and the IDB while the Nigerian government would provide $18.05 million toward the programme’s rollout and implementation.

“In Nigeria, the programme will soon get underway in seven states. The special agro-industrial processing zones will be game changers for agriculture in Nigeria. They will provide world class infrastructure to support food agribusinesses to locate close to zones of production, develop competitive value chains supported by logistic systems that will drive food processing and value addition. The SAPZs will help create massive wealth and jobs in rural areas and turn rural areas away from being zones of economic misery to zones of economic prosperity,” said Adesina.

A communique signed by all parties affirmed all parties’ joint commitment and acknowledgement that the SAPZ program was one that would be used to transform agriculture across Nigeria.
Akinwunmi invited Arise IIP, a company that specialises in setting up industrial zones, to make a presentation on its experience establishing these zones in Benin Republic, Togo and Gabon.

Expressing great enthusiasm for the SAPZ programme and enjoining his peers to take advantage of its value for development growth, Governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai said: “We are committed to the SAPZ program, all of us as governors, and I speak also on behalf of the President of Nigeria.”

The Governor of Ogun State, Mr. Dapo Abiodun, said: “This promises to be a very successful and transformational initiative, for Ogun State and for the country. This initiative is an important step toward reducing unemployment, a challenge that we face in Ogun State with the growing number of educated young people that are completing their studies with no jobs. There is a nexus between unemployment and insecurity.”

Governor of Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde and his Imo State counterpart, Senator Hope Uzodinma, emphasised that the program would shore up agricultural development in their states.

The Managing Director of National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Uche Orji, stressed that agriculture was a key focus area of his agency. Orji said: “The NSIA pledges to work with governors to ensure that procurement is done professionally and on time.”

He said the NSIA would play a key role in the rollout of the program.

Adesina commended the governors for the enthusiastic manner in which they had embraced the programme and enjoined them to continue to be the brilliant chief marketing officers and to attract private sector investment.

He also urged the NSIA to develop a roadmap for the governors to follow in rolling out the initiative. “I want this to work at scale in Nigeria. We need to standardise and avoid being bureaucratic,” he said.

Thereafter, Orji signed a letter of intent committing the agency to provide strategic assistance in procuring transaction advisory firms and other companies to implement world-class infrastructure in the hubs.