Economy
Africa Urged To Prioritize Mechanized Farming
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Limited use of improved technology is a major reason for low agricultural productivity across Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said at the ongoing African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Nairobi.
“Low use of technology is partly why Africa continues to be a net importer of food ,” Chiji Ojukwu, the AfDB Director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry stated Tuesday, adding that over 60 percent of the continent’s land has irrigation potential, yet only five percent of it is under irrigation.
Speaking at a session on “Agriculture Infrastructure, Technology and Mechanization,” Ojukwu said it was impossible for Africa to be competitive while its farmers were still spending too much time tilling acres of land manually. “We cannot feed Africa with this kind of agriculture. We must mechanize. Mechanization of agriculture is imperative. Let us do what we can to push this agenda,” he stressed.
Statistics from the AfDB indicate that African farmers have 10 times fewer mechanized implements per farm area than farmers in other developing regions and access has not grown as quickly as in other regions.
Nigeria has embarked on a pilot project to provide tractors and fertilizer to farmers with the aim of boosting agricultural production. Abdullahi Abubakar, the Deputy Director for Engineering and Mechanization in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said his department has partnered with Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs), and is currently working with 110 centres to provide services to smallholder farmers. “Mechanization makes the farmer more efficient, displacing unskilled labour and allowing the farmer to till a large parcel of land over a short time,” he said.
The African Green Revolution Forum saw the AfDB reiterate its commitment to supporting its regional member countries to create AEHEs, as well as providing concessional debts to be on-lent for equipment hiring and purchasing through commercial banks.
But most important, as with mechanization, is solving Africa’s water problem. Experts say the continent is facing diminishing water supplies, thus making irrigation a challenge. According to the World Bank, water scarcity can translate into growth-rates decline as much as 6 percent of GDP by 2050 as a result of water-related losses in agriculture, among others.
“Mechanization starts with water management,” said Patrick Nduati Mwangi, Principal Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation. He cited the Government’s efforts to irrigate a 10,000-acre model farm in the arid coastal region in order to boost food security.
The use of Information and communications technology (ICT) was mentioned as pertinent to Africa’s agricultural transformation, and is seen as a tool to woo the youth into entrepreneurship in agriculture (‘agri-preneurship’).
“The youth are not finding agriculture interesting because there is a gap which needs to be filled by information. The youth can bridge this gap by utilizing applications that provide information on farming methods, disease control, soil improvement technologies and market opportunities,” Gift Mafuleke, a youth farmer from South Africa, told delegates.
Already the AfDB is rolling out its ENABLE (Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment) Youth initiative, in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
The program seeks to bolster youth entrepreneurship in agriculture and agri-business. The initiative will see the Bank train the next generation of agriculture entrepreneurs, also referred to as ‘agri-preneurs’, in several countries, and provide them with seed money through banks to finance their bankable business plans.
ENABLE Youth is also seen as an innovative initiative to address youth unemployment through agriculture. The initiative, under Feed Africa, the Bank’s Strategy for African Agricultural Transformation during the period 2016-2025, will embark on a number of approaches aimed at responding to the challenges of technology and mechanization.
These include: increasing investment to disseminate proven technologies for agricultural productivity improvement through the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation initiative (TAAT); establishing a facility for on-farm mechanization leasing; investing in infrastructure and training to reduce on-farm and post-harvest losses; scaling-up and replicating innovative models to organize and aggregate farmers; accelerating and coordinating development of enabling hard infrastructure (energy, water, and logistics); building market centres and associated service infrastructure; and launching large scale farmer e-registration systems.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Kingdom via the British High Commission in Abuja has launched two flagship economic reform programmes – the Nigeria Economic Stability & Transformation (NEST) programme and the Nigeria Public Finance Facility (NPFF) -as part of efforts to support Nigeria’s economic reform and growth agenda.
Backed by a £12.4 million UK investment, NEST and NPFF sit at the centre of the UK-Nigeria mutual growth partnership and support Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen macroeconomic stability, improve fiscal resilience, and create a more competitive environment for investment and private-sector growth.
Speaking at the launch, Cynthia Rowe, Head of Development Cooperation at the British High Commission in Abuja, said, “These two programmes sit at the heart of our economic development cooperation with Nigeria. They reflect a shared commitment to strengthening the fundamentals that matter most for our stability, confidence, and long-term growth.”
The launch followed the inaugural meeting of the Joint UK-Nigeria Steering Committee, which endorsed the approach of both programmes and confirmed strong alignment between the UK and Nigeria on priority areas for delivery.
Representing the Government of Nigeria, Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Finance and the Economy, Mrs Sanyade Okoli, welcomed the collaboration, touting it as crucial to current, critical reforms.
“We welcome the United Kingdom’s support through these new programmes as a strong demonstration of our shared commitment to Nigeria’s economic stability and long-term prosperity. At a time when we are implementing critical reforms to strengthen fiscal resilience, improve macroeconomic stability, and unlock inclusive growth, this partnership will provide valuable technical support. Together, we are laying the foundation for a more resilient economy that delivers sustainable development and improved livelihoods for all Nigerians.”
On his part, Mr Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, highlighted the significance of the programmes within the wider UK-Nigeria mutual growth partnership.
“NEST and NPFF are central to our shared approach to strengthening the foundations that underpin long-term economic prosperity. They sit firmly within the UK-Nigeria mutual growth partnership.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the growth, digital capacity, and sustainability of Nigeria’s 40 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has been signed by MTN Nigeria and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
The collaboration will feature joint initiatives focused on digital inclusion, financial access, capacity building, and providing verified information for MSMEs.
With millions of small businesses depending on accurate guidance and easy-to-access support, MTN and SMEDAN say their shared platform will address gaps in communication, misinformation, and access to opportunities.
At the formal signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, November 27, 2025, in Lagos, the stage was set for the immediate roll-out of tools, content, and resources that will support MSMEs nationwide.
The chief operating officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Ayham Moussa, reiterated the company’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s economic development, stating that MSMEs are the lifeline of Nigeria’s economy.
“SMEs are the backbone of the economy and the backbone of employment in Nigeria. We are delighted to power SMEDAN’s platform and provide tools that help MSMEs reach customers, obtain funding, and access wider markets. This collaboration serves both our business and social development objectives,” he stated.
Also, the Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN Nigeria, Ms Lynda Saint-Nwafor, described the MoU as a tool to “meet SMEs at the point of their needs,” noting that nano, micro, small, and medium businesses each require different resources to scale.
“Some SMEs need guidance, some need resources; others need opportunities or workforce support. This platform allows them to access whatever they need. We are committed to identifying opportunities across financial inclusion, digital inclusion, and capacity building that help SMEs to scale,” she noted.
Also commenting, the Director General of SMEDAN, Mr Charles Odii, emphasised the significance of the collaboration, noting that the agency cannot meet its mandate without leveraging technology and private-sector expertise.
“We have approximately 40 million MSMEs in Nigeria, and only about 400 SMEDAN staff. We cannot fulfil our mandate without technology, data, and strong partners.
“MTN already has the infrastructure and tools to support MSMEs from payments to identity, hosting, learning, and more. With this partnership, we are confident we can achieve in a short time what would have taken years,” he disclosed.
Mr Odii highlighted that the SMEDAN-MTN collaboration would support businesses across their growth needs, guided by their four-point GROW model – Guidance, Resources, Opportunities, and Workforce Development.
He added that SMEDAN has already created over 100,000 jobs within its two-year administration and expects the partnership to significantly boost job creation, business expansion, and nationwide enterprise modernisation.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is seeking review of the controversial Capital Gains Tax increase, fearing it will chase away foreign investors from the country’s capital market.
Nigeria’s new tax regime, which takes effect from January 1, 2026, represents one of the most significant changes to Nigeria’s tax system in recent years.
Under the new rules, the flat 10 per cent Capital Gains Tax rate has been replaced by progressive income tax rates ranging from zero to 30 per cent, depending on an investor’s overall income or profit level while large corporate investors will see the top rate reduced to 25 per cent as part of a wider corporate tax reform.
The chief executive of NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, said in a Bloomberg interview in Kigali, Rwanda that there should be a “removal of the capital gains tax completely, or perhaps deferring it for five years.”
According to him, Nigeria, having a higher Capital Gains Tax, will make investors redirect asset allocation to frontier markets and “countries that have less tax.”
“From a capital flow perspective, we should be concerned because all these international portfolio managers that invest across frontier markets will certainly go to where the cost of investing is not so burdensome,” the CEO said, as per Bloomberg. “That is really the angle one will look at it from.”
Meanwhile, the policy has been defended by the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, who noted that the new tax will make investing in the capital market more attractive by reducing risks, promoting fairness, and simplifying compliance.
He noted that the framework allows investors to deduct legitimate costs such as brokerage fees, regulatory charges, realised capital losses, margin interest, and foreign exchange losses directly tied to investments, thereby ensuring that they are not taxed when operating at a loss.
Mr Oyedele also said the reforms introduced a more inclusive approach to taxation by exempting several categories of investors and transactions.
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