Agribusiness: Adesina urges investors at World Food Prize Dialogue not to overlook Africa

Africa’s food and agribusiness will be worth an estimated US$11 trillion by 2030, African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina told participants of the World Food Prize Foundation’s Norman E. Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.

The annual event in America’s agricultural heartland, revolved around this year’s theme of “harnessing change,” with delegates and panellists exploring innovative ideas to shore up innovation, adaptation, and diversification, and mechanisms for improving resilience, recovery from shocks, and sustainable systems to feed the world.

Several world leaders are actively bolstering food production and food security in Africa. This includes coming together for a landmark global Feed Africa summit in Dakar (the Dakar 2 Summit) last January.

The continent, which is home to 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land, ironically imports most of its food. African leaders are intent in ensuring that their countries are self-sufficient in food and become food exporters. There is a realisation that by 2050, the global population will reach nine billion, creating a pressing need for Africa to increase agricultural productivity to meet rising demands for food.

The African Development Bank, which is leading the charge to feed Africa, played an active part in the Borlaug Dialogue. At a session titled “From Dakar 2 to Des Moines” on Thursday, Adesina highlighted the achievements of the Dakar 2 summit, which the Bank organised in conjunction with the Senegalese government and the African Union.

Adesina explained how 34 African leaders endorsed country food and agriculture delivery compacts that produced action- and outcome-driven plans to ensure food security and unlock the continent’s full agricultural potential within five years. This is in line with the core of the Bank’s Feed Africa strategy, which it launched in 2016. Since then, he added, the strategy has supported more than 250 million people, who have benefitted from improved agriculture technologies.

According to Adesina, partners had committed over $70 billion to support the food compacts. The Bank is expected to provide $10 billion over the next five years.

The Bank head said Dakar 2 reflected the collective resolve of African leaders to ensure the continent feeds itself. One of the leaders, President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia, who was at the Borlaug Dialogue, said: “As African leaders, we are all committed to self-sufficiency in food production. Today, Ethiopia, for the first time in its history, is self-sufficient in wheat production and is a wheat exporter to its neighbours.”

Zewde acknowledged that this groundbreaking achievement had been helped by the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative. TAAT has distributed more than 100,000 tons of certified seeds of heat-tolerant wheat varieties, increasing Ethiopia’s wheat production by 1.6 million metric tons in 2023.

Further underlining the high level of African participation at the Borlaug Dialogue, Vice President Kashim Shettima of Nigeria spoke about the importance of leadership, which he said was essential to feed Africa and develop the continent. “A nation falls or rises dependent on the quality of its leadership,” he emphasised.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Nigeria’s Plateau State—speaking at a World Food Prize side event on transforming African agriculture through Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs)—also emphasised the essence of good leadership. “The time has come to deal with the elephant in the room, and that is corruption,” he said. He added: “We are serious about this, and we want investors to know that investing in Plateau State is a win-win.” Governor Mutfwang also stressed the importance of incentivising investors by reducing unnecessary administrative bottlenecks.

The African Development Bank has already committed US$853 million to public-sector initiated SAPZs and successfully mobilised financing of $661 million alongside its co-financing partners. Collectively, the partners are investing more than $1.5 billion to establish 25 agro-industrial zones and supporting ecosystems in 13 countries.

Adesina invited investors and other stakeholders to invest confidently in the African food and agribusiness sector. He said political will was strong and that results on the ground showed tremendous promise.

The African Development Bank is a regular contributor to the Borlaug Dialogue. Akinwumi Adesina who was the World Food Prize laureate in 2017, is recognised for his exceptional and innovative work in the African food system, including eliminating corruption in the fertiliser industry in Nigeria, leveraging resources for smallholder farmers, and increasing for crop and production efficiency, during his previous tenure as agriculture minister.

This year’s Borlaug laureate is Heidi Kuhn, recognised for her farmer-focused development model and work that revitalises farmlands, food security, livelihoods and resilience in conflicted affected regions around the world.

The African Development Bank’s initiatives to feed Africa drew strong commendation from Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation, and the Foundation’s President, Ambassador Terry Branstad.

To read the African Development Bank President’s speech at the Dakar 2 to Des Moines event, click here.