Economy
AfDB Injects $60m into Jigawa Wheat Cultivation Initiative
By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed its readiness to provide a $60 million facility to the Jigawa State Government for the expansion of wheat cultivation in the state.
This was disclosed by the Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industry at AfDB, Mr Martin Fregene, during a courtesy visit to Governor Umar Namadi at his office in Dutse.
Mr Fregene, who expressed happiness over the rapid achievements of Mr Namadi within a few months in office, especially on agriculture, said that the bank would partner with the state to revolutionise agriculture in the North-West.
He, however, suggested that Jigawa should prepare to go for 100,000 hectares in the next dry season and 250,000 hectares the following season, against the current 40,000 hectares being cultivated.
Mr Fregene said that the bank would accompany Jigawa all the way to achieve irrigation activities; thereby, increasing access to water in the land, improving growers’ skills, employing more youth and creating more value for wheat growers.
On his part, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, AfBD’s President, announced the AfDB’s commitment to transform agriculture for the betterment of everybody in Africa.
Mr Adesina, represented by Mr Olalekun Williams, Special Envoy to the AfDB’s President, recalled that in January 2023, 34 Heads of Government in Africa met in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss how Africa could feed itself.
“Nearly all African countries import food that can be grown in Africa and the amount of foreign exchange used to import food can be diverted to improve our agriculture.
“So, the main objective of the Feed Africa Initiative is to enable Africa to feed itself; and to feed itself in such a way that is efficient, sustainable and is competitive.
“In that sense, Nigeria as a member country developed what is called Nigeria Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compact.’’
He said each country that was represented in Dakar prepared its country compact to meet its food security targets.
Mr Adesina said that the compact focused on five important staples in each country, adding they should be produced to substitute for import.
“The staples selected by Nigeria are wheat, rice, maize, cassava and animal husbandry.’’
The AfDB’s president, however, expressed happiness about the ongoing agricultural revolution taking place in Jigawa.
He said that if Jigawa was contributing about 40 per cent of the nation’s wheat production in 2024, it meant Jigawa would be in the forefront of contributing to the Nigeria Food Agriculture Delivery Compact.
“We would like to use Jigawa as a demonstration of what is possible in Nigeria with purposeful leadership and support from the government to the teeming farmers as seen.
“The essence of the compact is to mobilise political, financial and technical support for the five staples,” he explained.
Mr Adesina said that if Jigawa could demonstrate that wheat was growable in Nigeria, then the bank could extend the same model to other crops like rice and maize which were seriously needed in the country.
On his part, Mr Namadi thanked the management of AfDB for its intervention programme in many areas of development in Africa, especially in agriculture for initiating programmes geared toward addressing the food crisis in the continent.
Namadi noted that apart from Nigeria’s green revolution programme in the 1980s, there was never a food-solving problem like the one introduced by Mr Adesina when he was Nigeria’s agriculture minister.
The governor said that most of the developmental projects coming up on agriculture were a result of Mr Adesina’s legacy of the rice revolution.
He reassured the delegate that the state government was committed to harnessing the potential of agriculture in the state.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
