Business

AfDB, Partners Inject $1bn To Fund Nigeria’s SAPZs

Published

2 years ago

October 28, 2023

African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development have voted $1billion to deliver special agro-industrial processing zones in 24 States of Nigeria.

This is in addition to an initial $520 million voted by the development partners for the development of eight special agro-industrial processing zones in the country.

Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice-President, in a statement said the President of AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this in the United States.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adesina spoke at the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue, World Food Prize 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who is attending the event in pursuance of the food security and diversification policy of the Tinubu administration, had on Wednesday delivered his keynote address at the ongoing Dialogue.

In a speech titled, “From Dakar to Des Moines”, Adesina said that the decision to pump such huge funds into Nigeria’s agribusiness was part of the resolve to develop Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) in 13 countries.

He said, “We are investing heavily in the development of SAPZs to support the development of agricultural value chains.

”Food processing and value addition, enabling infrastructure and logistics to promote local, regional, and international trade in food.

” The African Development Bank Group is investing $853 million in the development of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones.

“The bank has mobilized additional co-financing of 661 million dollars, for a total commitment of $1.5 billion. ”

Adesina said that the bank was deploying effective partnerships at scale, adding that currently it is implementing 25 Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones in 13 countries.

” The AfDB and the International Fund for Agricultural Development provided $520 million for the development of eight special agro-industrial processing zones in Nigeria.

” The second phase of the program aims to mobilize an additional $1 billion to deliver special agro-industrial processing zones in 24 States of Nigeria.”

Adesina regretted that while much progress had been made in African agriculture, 283 million people still go to bed hungry, about a third of the 828 million people that suffer hunger globally.

He described the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue World Food Prize 2023, as a journey and narrative combining the power of science, technology, policies and politics to ensure that Africa fully unlocks its agricultural potential, and feeds itself with pride.

Adesina thanked Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, for participating in the global event.

He said that their presence was an indication that Africa had the political will and was fully ready to tackle food insecurity as well as make hunger history on the continent.

Earlier, Shettima, who spoke on the Tinubu administration’s initiatives for food security, said the quality of present leadership in Nigeria and the rest of Africa would drive transformation in agriculture and other sectors.

He said, ”A nation falls or rises fundamentally due to the quality of its leadership.

”Right now Africa is blessed with quite a handful of quality leaders that have the drive, passion and skills set to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership.

”President Tinubu, my boss, is a good example, Macky Sall of Senegal and of course, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt are doing wonderfully well.

”Just to mention a few of the African leaders that are distinguishing themselves in leadership. ”

Shettima assured the gathering of investors and stakeholders in the agricultural sector that Tinubu was a quintessential 21st century modern African leader who is determined to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership.

He added, “Be rest assured that there will be a change in the fortunes of the Nigerian nation and by extention, the African continent in the next couple of years because Nigeria is an anchor nation.”

On wheat production, Shettima said the target of Nigeria towards wheat production was to achieve 50 per cent self sufficiency in the next three cycles.

He said, ”It is inconceivable that we are the second largest wheat importer in the world. Luckily, we have already procured the heat tolerant variety of wheat seeds.

”And we are going to drive that process by supporting the farmers with the heat tolerant variety, agricultural extention services, fertilizer and also hope to increase the irrigation areas to 1 million hectares in the next cropping cycle.

” We need to produce about 2.4 million tonnes of wheat grains in Nigeria. We are going to reach out to our farmers through small irrigation schemes and through digitalisation.

” All the actors in the value chain will be sufficiently taken care of through innovative finance, partial credit guarantees and crop insurance.”

On rice production, Shettima said the major challenge for Nigeria was the insufficiency of paddy rice.

He said that Nigeria had adequate milling capacity, adding, “but, we need to produce three to four million tonnes of paddy rice to meet our requirement of about 2.5 million tonnes per annum.

” We have 75 million hectares of arable land and most of it suited for rice cultivation.

” We will provide our farmers with certified seeds, fertilzer, extension services, the digitlisation of services, inputs, finance and market information.

” Our target is to achieve self sufficiency in rice latest by 2027.”

The vice-president, who spoke on SAPZs, reiterated the Tinubu administration’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for investors in the zones.

He said government would create an SAPZ development authority that would operate like a one-stop shop where regulatory and associated issues would be addressed.
(NAN)

Business

Fourteen Nigerian Banks Yet To Meet CBN’s Recapitalisation Ahead Of Deadline

Published

12 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

No fewer than 14 Nigerian commercial banks are yet to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalisation requirement as the 31st March 2026 deadline inches closer.

This follows CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso’s announcement on Tuesday that sixteen Nigerian banks have met their recapitalisation requirement ahead of the apex bank’s March 2026 deadline.

DAILY POST reports that Cardoso disclosed this in a statement after the bank’s 303rd Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja.

According to Cardoso, the development indicates that there is financial soundness in the country’s financial banking system.

MPC had been urged by banks to ensure a successful implementation of the recapitalisation process.

“The committee noted with satisfaction the sustained resilience of the banking system, with most financial soundness indicators remaining within regulatory thresholds,” Cardoso said.

“Acknowledged the substantial progress in the ongoing recapitalisation programme, with 16 banks achieving full compliance with the revised capital requirements.

“The committee thus urged the Bank to ensure a successful implementation and conclusion of the programme, among other domestic developments,” Cardoso said.

This means that two additional Nigerian banks have been added to the list of banks which have complied with the apex bank recapitalisation requirement in the last two months.

Recall that Cardoso, in the 302nd MPC meeting, announced that only fourteen banks have met the recapitalisation requirement.

CBN records as of 2024 showed that the country has thirteen commercial banks, five merchant banks and seven financial holdings companies.

Earlier, a report emerged that Access Bank, Zenith Bank, GTBank, Wema Bank, Jaiz Bank, Stanbic IBTC, and others have already met CBN’s recapitalisation requirement.

CBN in March directed commercial banks with international authorisation to increase their capital base to N500 billion, while those with national licences must raise to N200 billion.

Business

CBN Retains Interest Rate At 27%

Published

3 days ago

November 25, 2025

Editor

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has voted to retain the benchmark interest rate at 27 per cent.

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday following the apex bank’s 303rd MPC meeting in Abuja.

Cardoso stated that the committee also resolved to keep all other monetary policy indicators unchanged.

He noted that the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remains at 45 per cent for commercial banks and 16 per cent for merchant banks, while the 75 per cent CRR on non-TSA public sector deposits was equally maintained.

Cardoso added that the Liquidity Ratio was retained at 30 per cent, and the Standing Facilities Corridor was adjusted to +50/-450 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate.

The decision comes as Nigeria records its seventh consecutive month of declining inflation, which eased to 16.05 per cent in September 2025.

Business

CBN Issues Directive Clarifying Holding Companies’ Minimum Capital

Published

3 days ago

November 24, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued a definitive directive detailing how financial holding companies should calculate their minimum paid-up capital, following weeks of confusion that delayed the release of some banks’ half-year and nine-month financial statements.

In a circular dated November 14, 2025, the apex bank acknowledged “divergent interpretations” of the term minimum paid-up capital as stated in Section 7.1 of the 2014 Guidelines for Licensing and Regulation of Financial Holding Companies.

To eliminate ambiguity, the CBN ruled that minimum paid-up capital must be computed strictly as the par value of issued shares plus any share premium arising from their issuance.

“All Financial Holding Companies are required to apply this definition in computing their minimum capital requirement—without exception for subsidiaries,” the circular stated.

The regulator added that the directive takes immediate effect, noting that any previous interpretation that does not align with the new clarification “should be discontinued forthwith.”

The move is expected to calm market anxiety and provide clarity for lenders navigating ongoing regulatory capital requirements.