North-West leaders partner AfDB on agric development strategies

Leaders of Nigeria’s North-West region invited the African Development Bank (AfDB) to review the agricultural development strategy for the region and give an overview of AfDB’s ongoing and upcoming interventions in agriculture in Nigeria as they relate to the seven North-West states.
Five governors of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Sokoto attended the meeting, which held at Kaduna Government House.
It also has in attendance two deputy governors of Kebbi and Zamfara states as well as representatives of financial institutions, including the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry, Central Bank of Nigeria, NIRSAL, NEXIM Bank and Sasakwawa Global 2000.
In line with the agenda of the meeting, Ousmane Dore, AfDB country director, outlined the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme (ATASP-I) of $175 million as the main instrument for consolidating the bank’s investments in Nigeria agricultural sector.
Under this programme, the AfDB established four Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZs), which cover four out of the seven North-West states (Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano and Jigawa).
Dore also outlined two upcoming projects totalling $500 million; the ENABLE (Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment) Youth Programme ($300m) and Phase II of the ATASP ($200m).
This invitation was extended to the bank in recognition of its ongoing effort to transform agriculture from subsistence to agribusiness.
The efforts include the bank’s provision of financial support to SMSE through lines of credit to several commercial banks as well as through the policy banks (BoI and NEXIM), including the support for the establishment of the Development Bank of Nigeria ($500m).
The bank’s technical assistance to the Bank of Agriculture through grants was also highly appreciated. In conclusion, the governors expressed gratitude to the bank and its president for supporting the region and look forward to working with it to finalise and operationalise their agriculture strategy.