President Muhammadu Buhari in Dakar has urged African leaders to demonstrate political will and re-commit themselves to transformation of agriculture in the continent.
In his goodwill message to the Feed Africa Summit of Heads of State and Government, the President called on his counterparts to embrace innovative policies that will ensure the continent’s citizens eat what they produce as well as export the surplus.
President Buhari also welcomed the provision of $538.05 million by the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development for the first phase of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) for Nigeria programme.
President Buhari noted that the future of agriculture in Africa would depend on getting more youth into agriculture, which means making agriculture attractive for them.
The Nigerian leader therefore requested that the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts arising from the Summit must address ways to improve empowerment of the youth and women in agriculture.
The President applauded the efforts of the African Development Bank to launch SAPZ, recounting that he had launched the scheme in Nigeria in October 2022.
President Buhari also used the occasion to call for affordable financing to support smallholder and commercial farmers, underscoring the need for dedicated financing windows from the central banks.
He commended Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank for the vision to drive the Summit, together with the African Union Commission.
Bello Wakili