African Development Bank, AfDB, said it had earmarked $175 million, about N34.5 billion to improve Nigeria’s agricultural sector. AfDB Country Director, Ousmane Dore, who disclosed this when he visited some Northern governors in Kaduna, said the initiative was part of the Bank’s intervention strategy to boost the all-important sector in the country. According to him, the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme, ATASP-I, of $175 million would consolidate the AfDB’s investments in the country’s agricultural sector Under this scheme, the bank will establish four Staple Crops Processing Zones, SCPZs, to cover four, out of the seven northwest states of Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano and Jigawa. Dore listed two upcoming projects in the country, totalling $500 million to include a youth programme, otherwise known as ENABLE, meaning Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment, which would gulp $300 million as well as the Phase II of the ATASP-$200 million. The Country Director said these projects are in addition to the Bank’s financial supports to SMEs through lines of credit to several commercial banks as well as the Bank of Industry, BOI and NEXIM. But beyond this, the Bank is also supporting the establishment of the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, with $500 million while giving technical assistance to the Bank of Agriculture, BoA, through grants. It would be recalled that the Northern governors had invited the apex African bank to assist the region to transform agriculture from subsistence to agribusiness. The governors, who expressed gratitude to the Bank for supporting the region said they look forward to working with the Bank to finalize and operationalize their agriculture strategy.
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