The Nigerian agribusiness sector can get a boost if its recent discussions with a Chinese consortium bear fruits. With the help of China, Nigeria is wanting to set up special agro-industrial processing zones, which can transform Nigeria’s agriculture, leading to food security and generation of sustainable employment. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is also keenly interested in the project since the success model can be replicated in other parts of Africa.
Before the discovery of oil and the policy thrust directed to up the oil production, Nigeria was known as the food basket of Africa. The Nigerian Government and AfDB are working out a plan to recreate a situation wherein agriculture regains its importance its deserves. The AfDB’s recent meeting with the Chinese private sector consortium was a step towards forging the relationship to the next level and to create a model for the development of agribusiness across Africa. The Bank’s strategy is to channelize China-African co-operation for funding the Feed Africa Strategy, which has the objective of turning the massive natural endowment of the sector into competitive advantage for creating wealth and sustainable agri-business jobs, besides providing food security. AfDB is committed to set up special agro-industrial processing zones across Africa to transform Agriculture in Africa into a business-oriented and commercially viable sector.
Agribusiness has the potential to transform the Nigerian economy because of the presence of many such firms scattered all over the country. They are mainly concentrated in three main industrial clusters in Nigeria; Kano Kaduna Jos in the north; Lagos Otta Ibadan in the southwest and Port Harcourt Aba Nnewi Onitsha in the southeast.
Main agribusiness that can be processed in Nigeria are rice, cassava, poultry, goat farming, plantain, pineapples, maize, etc. Because of the large production of these crops, there is enough supply to process them. However, the food processing sector in the country is dominated by small and medium enterprises from the domestic side. There is also the presence of multinational food companies, which have the advantage of technology and scale to process large quantities. Adhering to the international quality standards is a challenge of the Nigerian food processing industries. The proposed tie-up with Chinese private consortium will focus on this aspect toproduce high quality and high-value products while at the same time reducing production time and cost.
