Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) said his bank has provided the impressive sum of $1.5 billion to promote the export of value-added agricultural products through the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) initiative.
He made this statement at the ongoing 2023 Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Place in Marrakesh, Morocco, with the theme “Unlocking Africa’s Value Chains”.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Alliance for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), Adeshina stated that Africa’s roadmap to wealth is from the export of value-added agricultural products.
He said,
Speaking further, the AfDB President said to expand SAPZs across Africa, and take advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), countries must scale up resources, partnerships, and alliances.
Furthermore, he expressed excitement that the number of partners joining hands to rapidly scale up the SAPZs across Africa was expanding.
On his part, Dr. Benedict Oramah, the President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), highlighted that political instability in Africa poses a significant hurdle to funding major projects.
Oramah, however, urged the development of a comprehensive project financing idea and proposal for the continent.
Moreover, he emphasized that the primary obstacle to facilitating financing and project implementation was budgetary constraints, underscoring the significance of resource allocation.
An additional commitment of about $3 billion was pledged by the partners during the inauguration of the SAPZs.
