To boost the level of African economic integration, the African Development Bank, in association with bi- and multilateral partners, has disbursed 1.5 billion dollars to establish 25 special agro-industrial processing zones in 11 African countries. According to AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina, these special zones will help reposition intra-African trade on the world stage.
With intra-African trade at around 15%, compared with 54% in the North American free trade zone and 60% in Asia, African markets remain highly unintegrated, according to the African Development Bank. With this in mind, the AfDB is announcing the creation of special agro-industrial processing zones, despite the fact that Africa has an absolute comparative advantage in food products compared with other continents. The AfDB, in association with its bilateral and multilateral partners, has disbursed 1.5 billion dollars to establish 25 special agro-industrial processing zones in 11 African countries.
« Africa needs to export agricultural raw materials, and we have to recognise that if we want to move towards the end of poverty we have to note that we have to export agricultural raw materials, but if we want to prosper we have to export processed food products, and that’s why we need to have adequate infrastructure for the development of the agro-industrial sector in Africa. We need to set up food processing companies in these areas. We’ll be able to make economies of scale, but also improve productivity ».
Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB – Nigeria
According to the multilateral institution, many African governments are not working enough with the private sector to develop and improve regional infrastructure, or to improve policies relating to industries adapted to the capacities that could boost this integration. For Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Special Adviser to the AfDB President on Industrialisation, African countries’ structures need to be modernised and changed to accelerate agrarian transformation.
« From a development point of view, these zones are an industrial strategy designed to accelerate agricultural transformation and modernise farming techniques, which will result in higher productivity, greater economic efficiency and more efficient geographical zones. This will also help to mobilise public-private economic partnerships, not just in terms of financing, but also in terms of skills and knowledge ».
Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Special Adviser to the AfDB President on Industrialisation – Nigeria
Since 2017, the Bank has launched Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), to address Africa’s need for more resilient agricultural supply chains in the face of rising fertiliser and food prices. The initiative aims to reduce Africa’s dependence on food imports. The Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones bring together the production, processing, storage, transport and marketing of products such as cotton, cocoa and cashew nuts, in areas with high agricultural potential for development and growth.
« These areas will increase incomes. Instead of African cows being exported live, we’ll be exporting beef, and that will change our way of life. Thanks to these processing zones, we will have an infrastructure that will enable us to use African land to produce wealth ».
Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB – Nigeria
The African Development Bank has already committed 853 million dollars to develop more than two dozen special agro-industrial processing zones in 11 countries. These zones are currently being implemented in Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Madagascar, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
