The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced an investment commitment of $2.9 billion to agriculture development in Nigeria and several African countries.
AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, committed in a statement published on the AfDB’s website on Tuesday, at the sideline of the bank’s annual meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.
Adesina disclosed that since the bank’s summit in 2023, six African countries, including Nigeria, have set up presidential-level councils to drive implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts agreed at the summit.
The Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts is an agenda set out by the AfDB in a summit last year wherein African countries were advised to mobilize and align government resources, development partners and private sector financing around achieving food security in each country.
Adesina noted the progress made so far and pledged additional financial assistance to countries that have already started implementing the agricultural agenda.
The statement partly read,
“Presidential Councils have taken off in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, while the councils in Benin, Burundi, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Malawi, and Togo are in the process of operationalization.
“At that summit, $72 billion was mobilised for agriculture development and transformation across Africa.
“Now the Bank has committed to invest $2.9 billion to support these Compacts, and also appointed two Special Envoys to coordinate and support the Presidential Delivery Councils.”
Obstacles to Africa’s agriculture development
Adesina identified climate change, global volatility of food prices, and geopolitical shocks as part of the obstacles limiting Africa’s ability to feed itself.
He stressed “the Bank’s commitment to investing $25 billion over a ten-year period to increase food production and bolster the continent’s agricultural resilience” in Africa.
- However, Adesina said for the envisioned agricultural transformation in Africa to crystalize, effective collaboration and cooperation by stakeholders is needed.
“The need to raise agricultural productivity; the need to significantly expand private sector financing for agriculture; the need for younger farmers in the agriculture sector; the need for significant policy support to de-risk agriculture financing;” Adesina added.
More insights
According to AfDB, Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural resources, including 70.8 million hectares of agricultural land area in agroecological zones that can support a wide range of food products.
The bank believes the agricultural land area in Nigeria is a huge market within the country and across West Africa, with a possibility of attracting financial inflows from about 400 million people.
It urged Nigeria to exploit the market in view of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which has eliminated barriers to trade in Africa by boosting intra-Africa trade.
What you should know
- The bank was established 60 years ago to play a leading role in financially supporting the continent’s transformation.
- It is currently headed by Dr Akinwumi Adesina, a Nigerian and Nigeria has been a major beneficiary of the bank’s financial services.
- Nairametrics previously quoted the AfDB saying that its funding for development projects in Nigeria is worth around $4.4 billion.
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