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AfDB Invests $10.9bn In Nigeria
The Director-General of West Africa Region, African Development Bank (AfDB), Lamin Barrow, says the banks’s cumulative financing approvals in Nigeria stands at 10.9 billion dollars.
Barrow said this at the Second Interactive Session and Workshop on Developing Bankable Business Proposals/Business Plans for Youths in Agriculture on Monday in Abuja.
The Tide source reports that the event is being held as part of the activities to celebrate the Bank’s 60th Anniversary with stakeholders.
“Over the last 60 years, the Bank has grown into a trusted partner and the continent’s premier development financial institution.
“Our cooperation with Nigeria has expanded over the years, especially considering that Nigeria is the largest shareholder.
“Since it started operations in the country, cumulative financing approvals has reached 10.9 billion dollars and our portfolio currently stands at 4.9 billion dollars supporting projects in the public and private sectors,” he said.
Barrow said the AfDB’s President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, upon assumption of office eight years ago, prioritised the High 5–of Power, Feed, Industrialise, Integrate and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
He said these were the accelerators for achieving the SDGs and the targets in the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
According to him, the projects and programmes supported during this period have impacted over 400 million people.
He said: “this Interactive Session provides an opportunity to discuss ways of addressing the many challenges faced by youths and women in Agro-business, including access to finance.
“We applaud the Federal Government of Nigeria in spearheading various initiatives and programmes to increase production and productivity in the sector.
“And its efforts to create job opportunities for the youths and women, and combat food insecurity in the wake of the high food inflation currently witnessed in Nigeria.”
According to him, the workshop will enhance the knowledge and skills of participants in preparing bankable proposals to unlock financial support for their enterprises.
Meanwhile, Mrs Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, AfDB’s Vice-President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex, during her key note presentation, identified agriculture as a business.
“We are here to reimagine Africa’s future. A future powered by agriculture that backs the perception of agriculture as a low-income, low-status occupation that attracts only 21.5 per cent of youth.
“Where Women, comprising 50.8 per cent of Africa’s population, continue to face systemic challenges including gender-based discrimination, marginalisation, violence, and unequal access to education, land, resources, opportunity and a voice.
“Africa is home to 65 per cent of the world’s remaining arable land enough to feed 9.5 billion people in the world. Agriculture is a business,” she said.
According to the vice-president, growth in the agricultural sector is two to four times more effective in reducing poverty than growth in other sectors.
She said by 2030, Africa’s food and agriculture market is projected to be valued at 1 trillion dollars.
“These numbers alone demonstrate the central importance of agriculture as a cornerstone of Africa’s economy and a solution to the continent’s and the world’s food insecurity.
“The question, therefore, is not whether Africa can feed itself, it is how quickly we can make it happen,” she said.
While reiterating AfDB’s efforts towards food security, Akin-Olugbade said the bank was collaborating with partners to allow private agribusinesses to establish industries that processed and add value to agricultural commodities.
“So, to our policymakers, I say this: The time for bold action is now. Every policy should ask: Are we going beyond empowering to invest in our youths?
“How does this support our women farmers? How does this move us closer to food sovereignty?
“To the youths and women: You are not just the future of Africa’s agriculture. You are its present. Your innovation, resilience, determination are the seeds from which a new African agricultural revolution will grow,” she said.
The vice- president said that by working together and focusing on these transformative initiatives, we would unlock the full potential of Africa’s agriculture.
She then expressed AfDB’s commitment to nurture the growth, ensure that Africa’s future in agriculture is bright and prosperous for all.
The Tide source reports that the event was attended by government officials, partners, women and youths in agriculture and stakeholders in the agric value chain.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.