Honorable Akinwumi Adesina, Minister for Agriculture, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
April 10, 2012
To recapture Nigeria’s former status as West Africa’s breadbasket, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Washington, DC and the Corporate Council on Africa co-hosted an exceptional Agribusiness Investment forum in the nation’s capital under the theme, Nigeria: Transforming Agribusiness through Investment. The event, a first, showcased Nigeria’s Agriculture Transformation Agenda and presented investment opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Participants from Nigeria included a high level delegation of senior government officials, state governors and corporations seeking to partner with and buy from American companies. Delivering his Keynote Address, Honorable Akinwumi Adesina, Minister for Agriculture, emphasized his government’s commitment to mechanized farming and the need to partner with American investors to transform the sector.
Agriculture represents 40% of Nigeria’s GDP and is the country’s leading employer. The Nigerian government is prioritizing agricultural development by infusing $3 billion and creating Staple Crop Processing Zones.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation with an estimated 10 million people in its rapidly growing middle class. She is a major consumer of a range of agricultural products, seeking to dramatically increase domestic production and processing of such products through technology, capacity building and value-chain enhancement.
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