Economy
AfDB to Raise Africa’s Overall GDP to $5.6tr by 2025
By Dipo Olowookere
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has revealed plans to boost the continent’s industrial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 130 percent by 2025 and drive its overall GDP from $2.3 trillion to $5.6 trillion.
This was made known in its latest reported titled Industrialise Africa and obtained by Business Post on Sunday.
In the report, the continent’s lender said of the eight African nations profiled, South Africa had the highest industrial GDP with Nigeria the lowest.
South Africa has 44.8 percent, Egypt 30.1 percent, Cote d’Ivoire 29 percent, Kenya 23.3 percent, Ghana 21 percent, Ethiopia 21 percent, Cameroon 17.9 percent and Nigeria 13.1 percent.
AfDB, in the report, said it plans to industrialise Africa by placing a stronger focus on areas where it can best leverage its experience, capacities and its finances to support countries through six ‘Flagship Programs’, which are at the core of the Bank’s Industrialise Africa priority.
It explained that to deliver its contribution to these programs, the Bank will significantly increase its level of funding over the next decade by fostering successful industrial policies, attracting and channelling funding into infrastructure and industry projects, and growing liquid and effective capital markets.
Also, the bank said it plans to promote and drive enterprise development, promote strategic partnerships in Africa, and develop efficient industry clusters cross the continent.
The lender further stated in the report that it hopes to help Africa move from agriculture to agro-industries, from raw natural resource exports to high-value semi-processed or processed exports and, hence, to curb high unemployment rates and lay the groundwork for greater diversification of economies.
It noted that this industrial revolution must be underpinned by technological progress, reallocation of new investments into high-return emerging markets and by offering Africa opportunities to leapfrog over its development gap.
Stakeholders acting on the industrialisation agenda of the continent estimate that structural transformation requires industrial GDP to grow by an average of 11.5% per year (corresponding to a cumulative growth of 130% by 2025), while GDP per capita growth would have to almost double to 4% per annum.
The experience of other industrialising economies would seem to indicate that Africa can realistically achieve these objectives by increasing industrial GDP in the next 10 years from $751 billion to $1.72 trillion within the next decade. This would raise continental GDP to $5.62 trillion and African GDP per capita to $3 368 by 2025.
“For this to happen, there is a need for a comprehensive and resolute continental industrial policy that is country-adjustable to local contexts and that can be aligned with the country’s development goals.
“This will require vision and commitment from political leaders but also from the African Development Bank and the broader development community called upon to provide support through technical assistance, capacity building, continuous dialogue and advisory services,” the report said.
Lessons from the experiences of the African Development Bank, UNIDO, UNECA and other development organisations highlight five key enablers that have been common to almost all countries that have rapidly industrialised their economies.
In successful industrialising countries, these enablers have typically been integrated into a comprehensive industrial policy that has enabled businesses, both large and small, to develop along the value chains of selected, high-potential industrial sectors.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Stakeholders in the aquaculture subsector in Nigeria have been promised adequate support through favourable policies and financial inclusion.
This promise was made by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, during a high-level consultative meeting with fisheries cooperative groups in Abuja on Wednesday.
Participants informed the Minister some of the challenges affecting the fishing business in the country, including overfishing, environmental degradation, lack of access to affordable finance, post-harvest losses, inadequate cold storage infrastructure, poor transportation and market linkages, low youth involvement, multiple taxation by local government authorities, and the rising cost of imported fish feed.
They appealed to the federal government to support them to end Nigeria’s dependence on fish importation so as to transform the sector into a powerhouse of food security, employment, and export competitiveness.
In his remarks, Mr Oyetola said the government would look into the demands, noting that efforts are being made to support women and youth in the fishing sector with start-up grants and other empowerment initiatives.
“We will scale up domestic fish production, reduce dependency on imports, and reposition the sector for sustainable growth,” he said, adding that, “Increasing youth participation in aquaculture is not only vital for food production but also a strategic solution to reducing unemployment. We are committed to ensuring that young people and women are not left behind in this transformation.”
According to him, discussions are ongoing with the World Bank to secure financial support for fish farmers and that the ministry will be collaborating with the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) to ensure affordable and accessible insurance coverage for fish farmers across the country.
“We are also in talks with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to replicate the successful aquaculture model at the Oyan Dam in other parts of the country,” he added, pointing to integrated planning and inter-ministerial cooperation as key pillars of the strategy.
“This meeting is not the end — it is the beginning of a sustained and transformative dialogue,” the Minister assured.
The meeting, convened by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, brought together leaders and members of major fisheries and aquaculture associations, including the Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (FCFN), Tilapia Aquaculture Developers Association of Nigeria (TADAN), Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN), Women in Fish Farming and Aquaculture, and the Practicing Farmers Association of Nigeria.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shares of First HoldCo Plc are currently being on high demand at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after information got out that serial entrepreneur, Mr Femi Otedola, is now in control of about 40 per cent of the financial services provider.
On Wednesday, the company was the busiest equity on Customs Street, selling 10.5 billion units valued at N324.5 billion.
The off-market block trading was executed through negotiated deals as the transactions were privately arranged between parties and then reported to the bourse.
It was learned that 17 separate deals took place involving First Securities Ltd as the buyer with CardinalStone Securities Limited, Meristem Stockbrokers Limited, Renaissance Capital (Rencap) Securities Limited, Regency Asset Management Limited, United Capital Securities Limited, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, and First Securities Limited also as sellers in some deals.
According to reports, the former chairman of First HoldCo, Mr Oba Otudeko, gave up more than 20 per cent of his stake in the organisation to his rival, Mr Otedola, who increased his shareholding from 15 per cent to 40 per cent, putting him in almost total control of the firm, which operates the flagship First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
It was gathered that Mr Otedola bought the 5 per cent equity stake belonging to another long term shareholder; the Hassan-Odukales, after voluntarily quitting the company.
Business Post observed that on Thursday, investors are jostling to take position in the company because of the latest acquisitions by Mr Otedola, who they believe could bring stability to the fold.
At the time of filing this report at midday trading, shares of FirstHoldCo were up by 9.94 per cent to N35.40 per unit from the N32.20 per unit they closed at midweek.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that its 301st Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, July 21 and Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
The MPC meeting, which will be held at the MPC Meeting Room located within the CBN Headquarters in Abuja, is one to watch as inflation eased again last month.
At the last meeting in May, which coincided with the 300th session, the team retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 27.50 per cent, the second consecutive hold in 2025.
This second pause in rates came after six consecutive hikes recorded in 2024
The CBN also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500/-100 basis points, the Cash Reserve Ratio of Deposit Money Banks at 50.00 per cent, and that of Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, while keeping the Liquidity Ratio unchanged at 30.00 per cent.
The MPC based the decision on improvements in macroeconomic indicators at the time.
Now, analysts say the MPC may consider cutting interest rates since inflation has slowed for yet another month in June 2025.
On Wednesday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated for the third consecutive month to 22.22 per cent in June 2025 from 22.97 per cent in May 2025. It was 23.71 per cent in April 2025, down from 24.23 per cent in the prior month.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the bureau, the year-on-year figure reflects a 0.75 percentage point decline from the previous month and a significant 11.97 percentage point drop when compared to June 2024, which recorded an inflation rate of 34.19 per cent.
The food inflation rate stood at 21.97 per cent year-on-year in June, a sharp drop from 40.87 per cent recorded in June 2024. This significant fall is attributed largely to the base year effect.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose to 3.25 per cent in June, up from 2.19 per cent in May, driven by price increases in staples such as tomatoes, pepper, dried green peas, crayfish, shrimps, meat, plantain flour, and ground pepper.
The decision next week will hinge on the ability of the county to navigate economic challenges including inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility, and the global economic outlook.
Despite these, many quarters including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have lauded reforms introduced by the federal government aimed at boosting local production and reducing demand for forex, noting that such moves would help dampen inflationary pass-through.
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