The African Development Bank, AfDB, has marked down the sum of $175 million for its Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme (ATASP-I) in Nigeria’s north-western states.
The country director, AfDB, Dr Ousmane Dore, made this disclosure at a meeting with the leadership of the North West region at the Kaduna State Government House.
He disclosed that the meeting reviewed the bank’s agriculture development strategy for the region, and also its ongoing and upcoming interventions in agriculture in Nigeria as they relate to the seven North West states.
Dore said: “In line with the agenda of the meeting, we (AfDB) have outlined $175 million for the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme as the main instrument for consolidating bank investments in Nigeria’s agriculture sector. Under this programme, the bank has established four Staple Crops Processing Zones, which cover four out of the seven North West states of Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano and Jigawa.”
He also outlined two upcoming projects totaling $500 million. According to him, $300 million is for Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment (ENABLE) Youth Programme and $200 million for Phase II of the ATASP.
He stated that the forum recognized that the bank had been providing financial support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through lines of credit to several commercial banks as well as through policy banks like the Bank of Industry, and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank.
