The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Nigeria’s leading commodity player, AFEX, South-West Agriculture Company (SWAgCo) and the Ogun State Government have formed partnership to develop five thousand hectares for the production of multi-crops in the South-West region of Nigeria.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Adeola Odedina, while speaking during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding for the partnership said the focus crops include cassava, rice and maize.
Odedina said “Our agricultural agenda as a state continues to be bold and exemplary, and this agreement is a very important step in that agenda. Together with AFEX and SWAgCo, we are creating a Staple Crop Zone as a vital part of the execution of the Special Agro-Industrial Zone (SAPZ) for the state, being developed in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).”
AFEX Chief Executive Officer, Ayodeji Balogun, said the partnership would ensure food security, create jobs and enable wealth creation for the country.
He said “AFEX will deploy its exchange platform to raise financing for the project and enable market access for the produce derived from the project. Our partnership with the Ogun State government and SWAgCo is integrating the private sector’s efficiency and innovation with the forward-thinking plans and agenda of Ogun government.
“As a commodities exchange and capital market player, we are able to deploy a blended finance product that will drive production and industrialization within the state, and help to achieve the mandate of the SAPZ.”
Balogun said AFEX’s goal is to create a way to triple the yields of staples to six – eight metric tons and continue to produce wealthy farmers for Nigeria, stating that the company would not stop in the South-West region but would spread its operations across all regions in Nigeria.
Although the project will be funded from both public, development as well as private and commercial sources, AFEX, as a commodities exchange, will be responsible for mitigating the project’s market risk by ensuring that the project’s output is guaranteed market access.
The MD/CEO of SWAgCo, Babajide Arowosafe, said the objective was to industrialize the agricultural space in the southwest and Nigeria.
He said “We are working with an institution like AFEX that is able to structure the agricultural food system in the country in a commercial way that delivers value to different operators in the value chain.”
“We have come into an alliance with AFEX to drive the SAPZ agenda in partnership with the Ogun State Government. We have a triplicate agreement – AFEX, SwagCo, and the Ogun State Government – to create the right platform for a seamless takeoff of the SAPZ agenda under commercial and private sector terms.
“We hope to have a partnership that encourages private sector operators to come in and benefit within the SAPZ agenda to deliver a more structured industrial revolution in the country,” Arowosafe said.
