The Jigawa State Government is partnering with the African Development Bank AfDB to see to the development of a special agro-industrial zone SAPZ in the state.
This was made known when a delegation from the AfDB, led by Mrs. Monde Nyambe, paid a courtesy call on Governor Umar Namadi at the Government House Dutse, the jigawa state capital.
She expressed the team’s enthusiasm for the collaboration, nothing that they are in the state on a special mission, looking at the preparation for the second phase of the special agro-industrial zones program in Nigeria.
“We are pleased with the progress made during the first phase and are now focusing on identifying states for the second phase, with Jigawa State being one of our key destinations”
According to her, the aim of the visit was to assess the readiness of Jigawa State to participate in the next phase of the SAPZ program.
Mrs Monde said, the AfDB team will evaluate the feasibility studies, examine the quality of reports, assess available sites for agro-industrial hubs and agricultural transformation centers, and analyze the state’s chosen value chain commodities.
She further explained that, they will evaluate the presence of the private sector and the adequacy of infrastructure such as road networks and water supply.
Responding, Governor Umar Namadi explained that, they are committed to the SAPZ program and have already prepared their feasibility studies.
He pointed out that, the state government will look forward to receiving feedback to address any gaps identified.
The Governor emphasized the potential of the SAPZ program to benefit the people of the State, particularly in providing employment opportunities for the youth population, which constitutes a significant portion of the state’s demographics.
“We are committed to this project because it has a lot of benefits for our people. Jigawa State is an agrarian state, and we believe we have a population of close to 7.5 million by the last estimate, and about 35% of that is youth. We hope this project will provide an avenue to engage this number of people so that they have a means of livelihood,”
Governor Namadi said that his administration has strategically chosen Gagarawa, with existing infrastructure, as the site for our industrial cluster.
Namadi also highlighted the state investment in skills acquisition centers to empower youth with valuable training opportunities.
END/USMAN MZ
