By Ogar Monday
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The African Development Bank, AFDB, has revealed that Cross River State will benefit from a $540 million funding mobilized by the bank in partnership with the International Find for Agricultural Development, IFAD, and the Islamic Development Bank, ISDB, for the siting of a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone in the State.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the bank, revealed this on his official Twitter handle after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari said Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Imo, and FCT are the other States that will benefit from the facility.
Explaining the selection process, Prof. Oyebanjo Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Special Adviser on Industrialization to the president of the AFDB said this phase only focused on the state with adequate documentation.
“In the beginning, we had engagements with practically all the States and we constructed something called the readiness index because you need several documentations-your feasibility studies, environmental studies, and all kinds of things that are required by these banks. You need to have all these ready after you express your interest. Some States were a bit slower. So we said let’s start with the first 8 States who have met the readiness index,” he said.
According to the AFDB website, the program development objective is to support inclusive and sustainable agro-industrial development in Nigeria by supporting the development of enabling climate-adapted infrastructure for Agro-Industrial Hubs, improving agricultural productivity and enterprise development to enhance agricultural value chains and job creation.