AfDB grants Nigeria $210m loan to boost agricultural sector

The African Development Bank’s Board of Directors has loaned Nigeria $210 million for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, which is expected to boost the agricultural sector.

This was contained in a press statement titled ‘African Development Bank loans Nigeria $210 million for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones’ and published on Tuesday on AfDB’s website.

The statement read, “A $210m loan approved by the African Development Bank’s Board of Directors on Monday could impact the lives of millions of people in Africa’s most populous country. The loan will co-finance Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Program. The program will help to unlock Nigeria’s agriculture sector potential. It will promote industrialization through the development of strategic crops and livestock.”

The loan, which has been said to be one of the Bank’s most ambitious operations in terms of scale and scope to date, consists of an AfDB loan of $160m and an Africa Growing Together Fund loan of $50m.

The Phase 1 of the project will target seven Nigerian states and the country’s Federal Capital Territory, augmenting certain value chain commodities: Cross River State (cocoa, rice and cassava), Imo State(beef and dairy livestock), Kaduna State (tomato, maize and ginger), Kano State (rice, tomato, groundnuts and sesame oil), Kwara State (livestock), Ogun State (cassava, rice, poultry and fisheries), Oyo State (cassava, soybean, rice), and Federal Capital Territory (beef and dairy livestock).

The statement also read in part “The project will support Nigeria’s efforts to raise agricultural productivity, promote investment, create wealth and jobs, and transform rural areas into corridors of economic prosperity. Its first phase will be implemented with co-financing from other partners in the amount of $538.05m.

It added, “The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Program is expected to bring economic infrastructure to rural areas of high agricultural potential. These zones will attract private agro-industrialist and entrepreneur investment, contribute to Nigeria’s economic and social development, and stem rural-to-urban migration. The project areas account for 19 per cent of Nigeria’s total landmass and will benefit 50.4 million people. The states where the first phase of the program will be implemented were selected based on a readiness criterion as well as the need to ensure geographical balance across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones.£

AfDB’s President Dr Akinwumi Adesina was quoted as saying, “This first phase of the program is not government-driven. It is government-enabled and private sector-led. That is the critical way in which you have a structural transformation of agriculture. It is impressive to see a strong commitment from the Nigerian government – a very strong commitment from the Nigerian Minister of Finance and from all of the state governments because they have to give the land, they make sure that all the regulations and incentives are provided.”

Also quoted was the Director-General of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Office, Lamin Barrow, as saying: “Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Program will mobilize private sector investment in the agro-industrial hubs and agricultural transformation centres. It will impact some 1.5 million households as direct beneficiaries, with a target of creating 400,000 direct jobs and up to 1.6 million indirect jobs.”