TheCable

African Development Bank (AfDB) says it is working on a $1 billion emergency facility to help African countries tackle rising prices of fertilisers by providing support to the government and farmers.

Martin Fregene, AfDB’s director, agriculture and agro-industry, said this at a virtual media briefing on Wednesday.

Fertiliser price has increased by over 180 per cent in the last one year. A bag of Urea increased from N6,000 to 17,000, posing threats to Nigeria’s food production.

Fregene said the bank would engage with member countries on policies with sustainable infrastructural efficiencies in Africa’s agricultural system.

“Rural infrastructure like storage and rural roads is what we need our countries to fix. The reason why Africa turns to Russia and Ukraine to buy cheap wheat and maize, is that our local production is not competitive,” he said.

“We want African countries to be able to adapt better,” he added.

On his part, Kevin Karuiki, vice-president for power, energy, climate and green growth, AfDB, said the bank would support Nigeria in its transition plan. 

According to him, Nigeria is one of the few countries that has evolved its nationally determined contribution (NDC) into a long-term vision, which is a foundational document for developing a long-term strategy.

“Now the long-term strategy is translated into the transition plan. So, we as a bank are very keen to support all African countries in developing their transition plans and translating them into a viable pipeline of projects,” he said.

“So, right now, what I can say is that the bank is committed to supporting Nigeria, but we cannot be able to quantify the amount because we do not have a clear view of what projects will emanate from the transition that it’s formulating, also, the long-term strategy has also not been developed.

“Once the long-term vision that was developed last year before COP26 evolves into a long-term strategy and then you formulate a long-term transition plan, then that’s the point at which we can say a number of credible projects can be financed.

“I have met the government of Nigeria personally and we’ve committed to supporting Nigeria in that transition process, but I think there are some foundational documents that are required for us to be able to intelligently interrogate that transition plan, and therefore, indicate the extent to which the bank can support the transition plan.”