The African Development Bank has onboarded 21 states for the Phase II of its Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) programme. The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, made this known after the 146th meeting of the National Economic Council, held in Abuja. The SAPZs programme was launched in 2022 and is meant to establish agro hubs that integrate the production, processing and distribution of specific crops and livestock in order to increase incomes, improve livelihoods, promote food security, and stimulate economic diversification.
Uzodimma said that with projects of the programme’s pilot phase in Kano, Kaduna, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, Imo, Cross River States, and the Federal Capital Territory, at various stages of completion, “phase two is about to start. Impressed by the programme, two weeks ago, there was a stakeholders meeting that onboarded an additional 21 states, so the Council resolved and urged all the states to key into this programme because it is going to be a game changer, and it will go a long way in tackling the food security pursuit of the Federal Government”, he stated.
The Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation to the AfDB President, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, had told Vice President Kashim Shettima that the pilot states would receive the first tranche of disbursements of $540m from the bank to develop SAPZs. The piece of information was brought to the fore, eight months after the AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, briefed President Bola Tinubu of a US$520m investment in the zones. Adesina had assured Tinubu that the bank would support the new administration’s economic policies in the country, placing the people first in development targets.
According to Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, SAPZs would make Nigeria’s rural landscape to become economic zones of prosperity by supporting “inclusive and sustainable agro-industrial development in Nigeria. The phase one of the project is at the point of disbursement. Kaduna, Oyo and Cross River States are all in the process of receiving disbursements and we hope that the other states can speed up their documentation so that we can fast-track these states. We raised $540m in catalytic funding and expect every state to find a partner to bring equity and join up with them. It is a government-enabled project but private-sector driven”.
“The next thing is preparation for phase two with 27 states. The demand is enormous, but we must prioritise those who move fast. We have set up eligibility criteria for the states and to rank them. We expect them to have a feasibility report, environmental impact study and a commitment to counterpart funding”, Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said.
AfDB informed that expected outputs of Phase II of SAPZs include the development of infrastructure for agro-industrial processing hubs, agricultural transformation centers, irrigated lands; farm-to-market access roads; supply of certified agricultural inputs and extension services; skills development for farmers and Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), an updated agro-industrial zone policy and establishment of regulatory institution, and special regulatory regime.
FarmingFarmersFarms had reported, in the story, ‘Why Nigeria May Lose SAPZs Funding’, https://farmingfarmersfarms.com/2024/11/why-nigeria-may-lose-sapzs-funding/ facility that the country is on “the verge of losing out in the funding process for the Phase II of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) due to what has been described as systemic delays and bottlenecks in the implementation of the Phase I of the programme, which attracted a US$538 million loan facility.
The SAPZs secured the $538 million in co-finance from the African Development Bank Group, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) with the contribution of the Federal Government to the fund”.
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I pray it yields good results that boost agriculture across states