By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
Nigeria has secured an enhanced funding commitment from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to operationalise the second phase of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), set to expand to 24 additional states.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications (Office of the Vice President), on Saturday.
Vice President Kashim Shettima made the request on Friday in New York during a bilateral meeting with AfDB President, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Justifying Nigeria’s request, Shettima said the country is the largest shareholder in AfDB with a portfolio of over $10 billion. “We urge you to further support us in the phase 2 Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ). You assisted us with $300 million when you were in Liberia. We want to thank you, but like Oliver Twist, we are asking for more because we are poised to diversify our mono-product economy into agriculture, especially value-added agricultural export.
“And we have the potential in all the agro-ecological zones in Nigeria. From the mangrove forest swamps in the south to the Sahelian region in the far north, you can virtually grow anything. In states like Kebbi, the soil is very fertile,” he emphasised.
The Vice President noted Nigeria’s youthful population, describing them as resourceful, development-oriented, and ready for the 21st century workforce. He also urged the AfDB President to support innovation-driven enterprises in the digital economy. “We can catalyse and accelerate the digital space in Africa. Already, out of the eight unicorns in Africa, five are from Nigeria – Moniepoint, Jumia, and the rest. We want to once again reiterate that we are with you, we are for you, and we will stand by you,” Shettima said.
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mallam Balarabe Lawal, appealed for AfDB’s support for Nigeria’s Great Green Wall Project, while Housing and Urban Development Minister, Alhaji Ahmed Dangiwa, sought assistance to bridge the housing deficit.
Responding, AfDB President Dr Tah said the bank will prioritise Nigeria’s human capital development. “My vision for the bank is not as a lending institution, but as a catalyst institution with which to mobilise resources and capital from all over the world to Africa. I hope we can really bring capital to the continent to make the transformation of our continent possible and bring value to the agricultural sector.
“This is why my four cardinal points are: mobilise large-scale capital through partnerships, reform Africa’s financial architecture, convert the continent’s demographic dividend into economic strength for job creation, and industrialise Africa by harnessing its natural resources to add value and build resilient infrastructure,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Shettima also held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, where both leaders recommitted to strengthening economic and cultural ties between Africa and the Caribbean.
Shettima said, “Going forward, we should have robust engagement and understanding. We should stand by each other. We should stand for one another. We should support each other’s interests.
“For St. Kitts and Nevis, and Nigeria, what binds us together supersedes whatever divides us. The majority of the population of the Caribbean is of African descent. A large chunk of them are English-speaking countries. Quite a number of them belong to the Commonwealth. So, the commonalities we share are so significant, but contact has been low, relative to what it ought to be”.
“So, your Excellency, I want to assure you that my boss is very keen on rekindling that friendship, that sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, and see to it that going forward, we should have robust engagement and understanding,” he added.
Dr Drew, on his part, decried the low level of trade and contact between the Caribbean and Africa, but pledged St. Kitts’ readiness to work closely with Nigeria to boost trade on the continent.
