Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, has said
there are massive opportunities in the agricultural sector of the Nigerian
economy for those who are prepared to work hard, with a clear vision and
commitment.
Chairman of board of directors of the bank, Mr. Asue Ighodalo
disclosed this in his address of welcome at the opening of the 2022 Agriculture
Summit Africa (ASA) hosted by the bank recently in Lagos themed Engineering A
Trillion Dollar Agricultural Economy. This year’s ASA is hosted by the bank in
collaboration with her esteemed partners including, Leadway Assurance, Nestle
Nigeria Plc, Thrive Agric, GIZ, Noor Takaful, Microsoft Nigeria, Stears Data,
among others.
He remarked that the ASA remains a signpost of the bank’s
commitment to the agricultural sector, one of the five sectors of specific
focus in the bank’s HEART strategy. The other sectors are health, education,
agriculture, renewable energy and transportation.
According to him, “As a major financial institution, and the
leading institution in this sector, we are ready and prepared, and we have the
financial expertise to partner strongly with such resourceful agripreneurs.”
Ighodalo also noted in his speech that Nigeria remains “a net food
importer “. He further remarked that ” Today, we only export primary raw
materials with minimal value add. Sadly, in four years, our food imports have
increased fourfold causing massive pressures on our foreign reserves and thereby
also exporting our jobs,” adding that, “As a nation that seeks economic growth
urgently and food security; we must reverse this trend, immediately.”
He said every developed country jumpstarted its development by
building and growing its manufacturing industry through the process of adding
value to its agricultural products. Adding that “it it has also become a
critical imperative that Nigeria increase the quality and yield of its
production, achieve food security, capitalise on trade opportunities within the
African region and thereby hasten its climb towards economic competitiveness
and prosperity.”
As the opening day’s events progressed, the opening sessions
focused on achieving import substitution at scale and maximizing agricultural
productivity through sustainable means respectively.
Besides the various sessions, there were also panels of
discussions. The opening panel focused on solving, with permanence, Nigeria’s
reliance on agricultural imports and on the necessary policies now required. It
also outlined the specific implementation process for achieving agricultural
sustenance, food security and raw material sufficiency.
The ASA continues into its second day with further deliberations
on disruptive technologies and the exploration of the agro-commodities as an
asset class to further increase the value generated in the sector.
The 2022 ASA can be watched live on www.agricsummit.org and on Sterling Bank’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
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