The Agro-Industrialisation Blueprint (AIB) is collaborating with stakeholders to transform agricultural potential into investment, industries, employment and inclusive prosperity in Africa.
AIB is a Pan-African centre of excellence dedicated to transforming agriculture into a modern industrial sector across Sub-Saharan Africa
Dr Godfrey Sunday, AIB’s lead advocate, stated this at the Agro-Industrialisation blueprint summit on Thursday in Abuja.
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The summit seeks to strengthen partnerships, mobilise investment, and promote a shift from primary agricultural production to processing, value addition, industrial development, and job creation.
The event is themed “Unlocking Africa’s Agricultural Potential through Agro-Industrialisation, Investment, Innovation and Inclusive Growth.
Sunday said that Africa needed well-planned agro-industrial parks and processing clusters that attract investors and provide shared infrastructure.
“We must promote mechanisation-as-a-service to make modern agricultural equipment accessible to smallholder farmers, embrace digital agriculture through farmer registries and other industrial products,” he said.
”Our central message is that agro-industrialisation is not simply about establishing factories. It requires a coordinated ecosystem connecting farmers, infrastructure, finance, technology, processing enterprises, markets and supportive public policies,” he said.
He said AIB’s ambition is to move from farm to factory, from raw materials to finished products, and from agricultural potential to measurable prosperity.
“To translate this vision into practical action, we must embrace innovative models and instruments,” he said.
Sunday said this included integrated farm estates that bring commercial crop production, livestock, irrigation, storage, processing, and logistics together within organised agricultural investment zones, among others.
“Together, let us transform agricultural potential into investment, industries, employment and inclusive prosperity,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Abike Dabiri–Erewa, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), said stakeholders must move from exporting raw commodities to producing finished and semi-finished goods.
Dabiri–Erewa was represented by Mr Abdulrahman Terab.
“The decision to develop a practical blueprint for agro- industrialisation is timely, particularly at a period when Africans are seeking sustainable pathways to economic diversification and food security and industrial growth,” She said.
According to him, Agro-Industrialisation provides an important opportunity for diaspora engagement, particularly in agricultural processing and food technology, among others.
In a goodwill message, Mr Olawumi Ayodele, Director, Agri-business and Marketing Development, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said that Nigeria is blessed with abundant arable land.
He said that agro-industrial estates offer a practical and strategic solution to the challenges in tapping the full value of Nigeria’s agricultural resources.
“As Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy, agro-Industrialisation estates can serve as powerful engines for rural development,” he said.
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