African Development Bank (AfDB), alongside its partners, has mobilised $2.2 billion (N3.4 trillion) towards the second phase of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) across 24 states in Nigeria.

This was disclosed by the bank’s outgoing President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, in a paper presented at the 2025 Standard Chartered Bank Africa Summit held in Lagos.

According to Adesina, the fund will support the rollout of the next phase of the initiative aimed at transforming Nigeria’s agricultural sector through value chain development and industrialisation.

He noted that the bank and its partners had supported the launch of the special agro-industrial processing zones in the first eight states: Ogun, Oyo, Cross Rivers, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Kano and Abuja.

The first phase of SAPZ was designed to boost food production, reduce post-harvest losses, and attract agro-industrial investments by providing enabling infrastructure in rural farming communities. The initiative also aimed to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs through value chain activities such as processing, packaging, logistics and export.

Adesina said the initiative would revolutionise Nigeria’s agricultural sector by enhancing food security, boosting domestic production, and creating employment.

According to him, investments are necessary to unlock the agricultural potential in Nigeria and Africa in general, particularly for enhancing the value of agricultural commodities.

To achieve that, he stressed the need for the development of industrial platforms that would allow the continent to move up the agricultural value chains.

“The AfDB is investing massively in the development of SAP zones across Africa, enabled with infrastructure to support the establishment of industries to process and add value across a wide range of agricultural products,” he said.

He added that the bank had committed over $934 million towards the development of the zones, saying: “We have mobilised co-financing of $938 million from partners, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Islamic Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the West African Development Bank. We have also launched, together with partners, the Alliance for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones to accelerate the development of these zones across Africa, with $3 billion in commitments,’ he said.

He also disclosed that development of the special agro-industrial processing zones was ongoing in 27 sites across 11 countries in Africa.