Sterling Bank’s forthcoming Agriculture Summit Africa will play a significant role in Nigeria’s quest to achieve food security, the lender has said.
Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Banking, Sterling Bank, Mr. Yemi Odubiyi, stated this during a press conference in Lagos where the Bank briefed journalists on the Agriculture Summit Africa billed for September 5 and 6 in Abuja.
The summit themed, “Agriculture – Your Piece of The $1tr Economy,” is geared towards the attainment of the $1trillion Africa agribusiness economy dream of the World Bank by 2030.
Noting that achieving food security was a major objective of the Federal Government, Mr. Odubiyi pledged that Sterling Bank will continue to play a leading role in helping the country achieve this goal.
He said: “Food security is a major threat in Nigeria. We will not be able to stabilise this country until we solve the issue of food security, which we are at the forefront. We are trying to address issue of food security and job creation in the country. We believe that supporting the initiative of the current administration, we will be able to solve challenges of food security.”
He further stated that:”About 10 per cent of our loans are on agriculture because the sector is a very important area for us. We are working with other stakeholders for us to achieve the $1 trillion target of the World Bank by bringing back the good old days of agriculture boom where cocoa and other cash crops were faring well in the country.
He announced that during the summit, Sterling Bank would launch several inititaives, including a digital platform, based on blockchain technology to address post-harvest losses and other areas to boost the agric sector.
Also speaking at the event, the Group Head, Agric Finance and Export, Bukola Awosanya said that this year’s summit will build on the huge success of last year’s event. She disclosed that due to what they benefited from the summit last year, over 4,000 people have already said they would register for the event next month.
Last year, Sterling Bank brought together smallholder farmers, input suppliers, agro processing entrepreneurs, development finance agencies, policy makers and captains of industry through a technical workshop on the agriculture value chain in Abuja.
The workshop, which focused on co-creating a sustainable Nigerian economy through rural agricultural enterprise, was chaired by Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh.
This year’s agriculture summit is a more ambitious attempt to discuss issues that will propel Africa to attain her full potential in the Agriculture sector.
