THE African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, on Thursday, hinted of voting $1b to further deliver special agro-industrial processing zones in 24 states of Nigeria.
The President of African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this at the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue, World Food Prize 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America.
The Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is attending the event in pursuance of the food security and diversification policy of the Bola Tinubu administration, had, on Wednesday, delivered his keynote address at the ongoing dialogue.
Delivering his own speech, titled, “From Dakar to Des Moines,” Adesina noted that the decision to pump such huge funds into Nigeria’s agribusiness was part of the resolve to develop Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) in 13 countries.
Explaining that it was the core of the food and agriculture delivery compacts from the Dakar 2 Summit held earlier this year in Senegal, the AfDB President said: “We are investing heavily in the development of SAPZs to support the development of agricultural value chains, food processing and value addition, thereby, enabling infrastructure and logistics to promote local, regional and international trade in food.
“The African Development Bank Group is investing $853m in the development of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, and it has mobilised additional co-financing of $661m for a total commitment of $1.5b. We are deploying effective partnerships at scale. We are currently implementing 25 Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones in 13 countries.
“For example, the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development provided $520m for the development of eight special agro-industrial processing zones in Nigeria. The second phase of the programme aims to mobilise an additional $1b to deliver special agro-industrial processing zones in 24 States of Nigeria.”
