Sterling Bank Set for ‘Agriculture Summit Africa’

Sterling Bank Plc has finalised plan to organise an Agriculture Summit Africa in Abuja between 5th and 6th of September, 2019.

The continental summit which is being organised under the theme: “Agriculture - Your Piece of The Trillion-Dollar Economy,” according to the bank, seeks to actualise the $1 trillion African agribusiness economy plan by 2030.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos recently, on the rationale behind the summit which will bring together policy makers, development agencies, international financial institutions and value chain players on the continent, the Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Banking with Sterling Bank,

Mr. Yemi Odubiyi, said the summit would address the issues preventing the agricultural sector from attaining its potential because food security on the continent has become a critical issue.

Odubiyi said the agrarian land, which is the preserve of the continent, is now under threat because of issues of terrorism and other security concerns that have made some of those lands to be depopulated while there is a remarkable increase in population rate across the continent. According to him, this development has made it imperative to address the issue of food security which would in the long run also help to address unemployment, another major continental challenge.

The executive director said the recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA), had also opened a new frontier for investors to tap into the agricultural potential of the continent as countries within the continent would be able to export food products among themselves.

While recalling the olden days when agriculture was the pride of the Nigerian economy with the establishment of research centres like the Cocoa Research Institute, among others, Odubiyi said Sterling Bank would continue to help build farming businesses that would help to sustain food security in the country.

Also speaking, the Group Head, Agriculture and Export, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Bukola Awosanya, explained that the first agriculture summit organised by the bank last year brought together smallholder farmers, input suppliers, agro-processing entrepreneurs, development finance agencies, policy makers and captains of industry in Abuja. According to her, the 2018 summit focused on co-creating a sustainable Nigerian economy through rural agricultural enterprise.