The African Development Bank (AfDB), has urged the government of Nasarawa to accelerate its domestic resource mobilisation efforts to ensure industrial development in the state.
The AfDB’s President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said this at the Nasarawa Investment Summit in Lafia, with the theme “The Industrial Renaissance”.
Adesina was represented by Mr Lamin Barrow, the Director-General, Nigeria Country Departmen of AfDB.
He said “Budget’s 2023 State of the States” report indicated that Nasarawa’s Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) grew only marginally.
He said the IGR grew by 3.8 per cent in 2023 from N20.7 billion in 2021 to N21.49 billion in 2022.
According to him, about 67 per cent of this amount is derived from taxes, and 33 per cent from non-tax revenues.
“Pay As You Earn (PAYE) constitutes 83.8 per cent of the tax revenues signaling limited diversification of revenue sources.
“The AfDB is supporting the introduction of an integrated unique identification system aimed at improving tax compliance and revenue mobilisation.
“Nigeria remains a net importer of food in spite of a generous endowment of arable land and favorable climatic conditions in many parts of the country, including Nasarawa State,” he said.
Adesina said that between 2010 and 2020, the annual food import bill averaged 6.4 billion dollars, while food exports averaged 1.2 billion dollars over the same period.
According to him, this presents a great opportunity for Nasarawa to expand food production to supply the domestic market and even export to other African countries.
He said this would be possible if the state took advantage of opportunities provided under the African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA).
According to him, Nasarawa is known for its huge potential in agriculture, particularly its organised commodity aggregation system which ensures the marketability and traceability of produce.”
” it is reassuring to note that Nasarawa is prioritising the development of agricultural value chains in key commodities such as sesame, rice, and ginger.
“Accelerating the development of agro-industrial value chains can be achieved by de-risking agricultural value chains and attracting more private sector food and agribusiness investment into rural areas.
“That is why AfDB with its Partners, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development is supporting the implementation of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones’ (SAPZ) Programme in Nigeria.”
According to Adesina, the theme chosen for this year “The Industrial Renaissance’ focusing on attracting capital for infrastructure development and entrepreneurship to drive industrialisation is apt.
He said this was because it resonates with the demands of the time, and against the backdrop of major disruptions and turbulence in the global economy.
“Nigeria’s industrial journey has been characterised by leaps and bounds, partly attributable to the huge infrastructure deficit and weaknesses in the implementation of industrial policies.
“Over the past three years (2020-2023) annual growth in manufacturing value added (as a percentage of GDP) was only one per cent.
“While only 12.7 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce are in wage employment as at December 2023.
“This situation, coupled with a high unemployment rate, especially among the youth population, underscore the urgency for industrial renaissance in the country,” he said. (NAN)
