By Aliyu Galadima
African Development Bank ,AfDB, has reaffirmed its commitment to transforming Africa’s agricultural sector with a massive $3 billion investment in Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones ,SAPZ, across more than 11 countries on the continent.
This was made known by AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina during an interview with Arise Television yesterday.
This initiative is part of the bank’s broader strategy to drive agricultural industrialization and enhance food security.
Adesina highlighted the continent’s critical role in global food production during an interview with Arise TV.
“Africa has 65% of the uncultivated arable land left in the world to feed 9.5 billion people by 2050… it is going to determine the future of food in the world. So, when I was elected president of the African Development Bank, of course, given my experience – I’m an agricultural economist by training I know exactly what needed to be done”, Adesina said.
He further outlined the bank’s High 5s programme, which focuses on lighting up Africa, feeding Africa, industrialising Africa, integrating Africa, and improving the quality of lives for Africans.
To achieve these ambitious goals, Adesina launched a $25 billion initiative aimed at revolutionising agriculture across Africa. He cited Ethiopia as a success story, where the AfDB’s Technologies for African Agricultural Drives ,TAAT, programme has significantly enhanced wheat production.
“In Ethiopia in 2008, we introduced drought-tolerant wheat varieties. Within four years, the country became self-sufficient in wheat production. For the first time, Ethiopia is now a net exporter of wheat”, he explained.
The SAPZ initiative is designed to establish economic hubs close to farming communities, equipped with essential infrastructure such as power, water, roads, and irrigation systems.
“We have a programme today that is called Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone which is about developing new economic zones across Africa close to where farmers are. And these have enabling infrastructure power, water, roads, irrigation, and all of that. Today, we are investing over $3 billion in that in more than 11 countries”, Adesina noted.
Nigeria is one of the key beneficiaries of this initiative. According to Adesina, the AfDB, in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development ,IFAD, initially sought to raise $750 million for Nigeria but ended up securing a total of $2.2 billion.
“In Nigeria, for example, I had to put together a million-dollar programme – ourselves, Islamic Development Bank, International Fund for Agriculture. We wanted to raise $750 million, we raised $2.2 billion for Nigeria”, he revealed.
