African Development Bank (AfDB) has offered to mobilise
between $16b and $25b to boost investment in agro-allied sector of Nigeria’s
economy.
The bank disclosed this at a meeting with the vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and a delegation of Chinese investors held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday
Head of the AfDB team at the meeting, Prof. Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, explained that the framework tagged ‘Agro-industrial initiative’ is to develop a programme that leverages Nigeria’s comparative advantage in key areas of agricultural production.
“The overall investment, under the initiative, amounts to between $16 billion to $25 billion over a period of four years with a strong government support and private sector leadership,” he said.
In his remarks, Osinbajo said the federal government would welcome partnerships and initiatives that would make Nigeria actualise its potential of being the food basket of the world.
He said the collaboration is in line with the government’s commitment to develop a thriving agro-industrial sector.
“I think that Nigeria is a place where there is tremendous opportunity. We have the 9th largest arable land in the world and most of that is still largely untouched.
“We have a tremendous potential of being the food basket of the world but a lot of that will depend on how we are able to get high quality inputs, seedling and others, and how we are able to use technology especially the benefits of industrial agriculture to our advantage,” he said.
Referring to the interest of the Chinese investors in the agro-allied sector, the vice president said: “We believe very strongly that this partnership is the one that will deliver the kind of growth, the kind of quantum leap we are looking forward to. We think that with your partnership with us, especially the agro-allied aspect of it, if it works very well, we can achieve a lot.”
“This is the reason why we are engaging at this (presidential) level of government alongside the AfDB, to ensure that our investors have no trouble at all in being able to operate their businesses and do their businesses efficiently.”
Also speaking, the leader of the Chinese delegation, Prof. Zhao Zhihai explained that the Chinese investors were in the country at the instance of AfDB to commence the processes of investing in Nigeria’s agricultural sector under an initiative known as the agro-industrial initiative with focus on crop production, forestry, fishery, and livestock production.
