The African Development Bank and its partners have mobilised $2.2 billion (about N3.4 trillion) to implement special agro-industrial processing zones in Nigeria.

Akinwumi Adesina, the outgoing president of AfDB, disclosed this in a paper presented at the 2025 Standard Chartered Bank Africa Summit recently held in Lagos.

Mr Akinwumi said the fund would be deployed to implement Phase 2 of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, covering 24 states.

He recalled that the bank and its partners had supported the launch of the special agro-industrial processing zones in the first eight states (Ogun, Oyo, Cross River, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Kano, and Abuja).

Mr Adesina, a former agriculture minister, said the initiative would revolutionise Nigeria’s agricultural sector by enhancing food security, boosting domestic production, and creating thousands of jobs.

According to him, investments are necessary to unlock the agricultural potential in Nigeria and Africa in general, particularly for enhancing the value of agricultural commodities.

To achieve this, he emphasised the need for the development of industrial platforms that would enable the continent to move up the agricultural value chain.

“The AfDB is investing massively in the development of Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones across Africa, enabled with infrastructure to support the establishment of industries to process and add value across a wide range of agricultural products.

“The bank has committed over $934 million towards the development of the special agro-industrial processing zones. We have mobilised co-financing of $938 million from partners, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Islamic Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the West African Development Bank.

“We have also launched together with partners, the Alliance for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones to accelerate the development of these zones across Africa, with $3 billion in commitments,’’ he said.

The AfDB president also disclosed that the development of special agro-industrial processing zones is ongoing at 27 sites across 11 countries in Africa. 

(NAN)