SEVEN newly-elected Nigerian governors from the north have visited the African Development Bank Group(AfDB) in Abidjan, Cote to strengthen cooperation and unlock the region’s agri-business potential.
The bank disclosed this development in a statement issued on Saturday, November 18.
The delegation meeting with the bank president, Akinwunmi Adesina, was led by Katsina State Governor Dikko Umar Radda and included Governors Nasiru Idris of Kebbi State, Umar Namadi of Jigawa, Zamfara’s Dauda Lawal, and Deputy Governors Aminu Abdussalam from Kano, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, Kaduna, and Idris Mohammed Gobir of Sokoto.
The North-West region is mainly Nigeria’s food belt, with an estimated 60 million people, which is 28 per cent of the country’s population. It is also home to 10 million of the country’s 22 million heads of cattle.
The zone, however, has the highest incidence of poverty and food insecurity due to inadequate infrastructure, weak extension services, limited value addition, and poor integration into domestic and regional markets.
The meeting, according to the statement, focused on boosting food production, nutrition, and security, as well as innovative ways to unleash the zone’s rich agriculture potential.
Accordingly, discussions were held to fast-track the implementation of special agro-industrial processing zones (SAPZs).
Other priority areas include leveraging the African Development Bank’s renewable energy programmes. Its esert-to-power initiative that will deliver 10,000MW of solar energy to nearly 250 million people across the Sahel region was also discussed.
Notably, the special agro-industrial processing zones are designed to promote increased productivity, value addition, and market access through government-enabled and private sector-driven investments to develop strategic commodity value chains.
Adesina informed the governors that the Bank and its partners had targeted $1 billion in financing to expand the SAPZ programme in Nigeria to support up to 25 of the country’s 36 states.
He urged the governors to collaboratively and promptly select agricultural hubs to host the schemes.
Responding, Radda lauded Adesina’s leadership of the African Development Bank and for serving as a good ambassador for Nigeria and Africa.
He said the North-West governors decided to adopt a coordinated approach in collaborating with the Bank to implement agriculture and power projects to drive the zone’s development and improve livelihoods.
“We have commonalities in people, approaches, culture, tradition, topography, rainfall and climate,” he added.
Adesina applauded the regional approach of the governors, assuring them the Bank would offer to support the development of a regional strategy.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.