The African Development Bank Group has unveiled a new Country Strategy Paper aimed at boosting agriculture and enhancing economic growth in Nigeria.
A delegation led by Dr. Abdul Kamara, Director General of AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, recently met with Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Wale Edun, to strengthen collaboration in key sectors. Dr. Kamara highlighted the launch of the strategy, reaffirming AfDB’s commitment to transformative projects in the country.
Key initiatives under the new strategy include the second phase of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme, which targets food security and rural development. Dr. Kamara also pointed to advancements in infrastructure within the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, particularly in Sokoto, with plans to expand into Cross River and Kaduna States.
The AfDB has also underscored its support for youth entrepreneurship through initiatives such as the Youth Enterprise Investment Fund, designed to foster job creation and drive economic inclusion.
Minister Edun commended AfDB’s role as a crucial partner in Nigeria’s development, particularly in agriculture, infrastructure, and youth empowerment.
In a related development, AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina recently launched a $500 million facility designed to unlock $10 billion in financing for smallholder farmers and agribusinesses across Africa. Speaking at the High-Level Conference on Scaling Finance for Smallholder Farmers in Nairobi, Dr. Adesina outlined the Bank’s innovative financing approach, which includes trade credit guarantees, blended finance, and first-loss coverage to address the $75 billion annual financing gap for farmers.
The conference, organized in partnership with the Pan African Farmers’ Organization (PAFO), aimed to address the challenges facing African agriculture. Despite progress made since the 2023 Dakar 2 Feed Africa Summit—where 34 African heads of state pledged to improve food security and sovereignty—challenges persist, with only 6% of African smallholder farmers having access to credit.
Since the summit, AfDB has approved 77 projects worth $3.9 billion across 32 countries, with plans for an additional $1.72 billion in approvals this year. However, bank lending to agriculture remains limited, accounting for less than 5% of total loan portfolios in many African countries, despite agriculture’s central role in the economy.
