The Agro-Industrialisation Blueprint (AIB) is working with stakeholders to transform Africa’s agricultural potential into investment, industries, jobs and inclusive prosperity.
AIB is a Pan-African centre of excellence dedicated to modernising agriculture across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Godfrey Sunday, AIB’s lead advocate, said this at the Agro-Industrialisation Blueprint Summit in Abuja on Thursday.
The summit aims to strengthen partnerships, mobilise investment and shift the focus from primary agricultural production towards processing, value addition, industrial development and job creation.
The event’s theme was “Unlocking Africa’s Agricultural Potential through Agro-Industrialisation, Investment, Innovation and Inclusive Growth.”
Sunday said Africa needed well-planned agro-industrial parks and processing clusters to attract investors and provide shared infrastructure.
“We must promote mechanisation as a service to make modern agricultural equipment accessible to smallholder farmers and embrace digital agriculture through farmer registries and other digital tools,” he said.
“Our central message is that agro-industrialisation is not simply about establishing factories. It requires a coordinated ecosystem connecting farmers, infrastructure, finance, technology, processing enterprises, markets and supportive public policies,” he said.
Sunday said AIB’s ambition was to move from farms to factories, from raw materials to finished products, and from agricultural potential to measurable prosperity.
“To translate this vision into practical action, we must embrace innovative models and instruments,” he said.
These included integrated farm estates that bring commercial crop production, livestock, irrigation, storage, processing and logistics together within organised agricultural investment zones, he said.
“Together, let us transform agricultural potential into investment, industries, employment and inclusive prosperity,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), said stakeholders must move from exporting raw commodities to producing finished and semi-finished goods.
Dabiri-Erewa was represented by Mr Abdulrahman Terab.
“The decision to develop a practical blueprint for agro-industrialisation is timely, particularly at a time when Africans are seeking sustainable pathways to economic diversification, food security and industrial growth,” she said.
Terab said agro-industrialisation offered an important opportunity for diaspora engagement, particularly in agricultural processing and food technology.
In a goodwill message, Mr Olawumi Ayodele, director of agribusiness and marketing development at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said Nigeria was blessed with abundant arable land.
He said agro-industrial estates offered a practical and strategic solution to the challenges of unlocking the full value of Nigeria’s agricultural resources.
“As Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy, agro-industrial estates can serve as powerful engines for rural development,” he said.
