By Adaora Adibe/ Nafisat Abdulrahman
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged its support for Nigeria’s industrial growth, co-leading the development partnerships round table of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), held recently at the Council’s headquarters in Abuja. The event is a step toward creating a strategic plan that will guide the Council’s work in the next 10 years.
Speaking during the event, the Manager, Natural Resources Management and Investment Centre, African Development Bank Group Dr. Fred Kabanda applauded RMRDC for organizing the programme presentation and dialogue. Also, he commended all development partners who gathered and are committed to joining the discussion, which is critical in fostering sustainable exploitation and utilization of Nigeria’s natural resources for green economic transformation of the country.
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He stated that the African Development Bank‘s Ten-Year Strategy 2024-2033 and the high 5 agenda of the Bank provide a strategic framework to support African Countries with interventions that lead to economic growth and improvement of the quality of life of the people of Africa.
He acknowledged the vital role of natural capital in Africa’s development,
“Africa also hosts over 60 percent of the world‘s remaining arable land, and its forest spans about 21% to 23% of the continent’s total land mass. In addition, about 75% of Africa‘s countries have access offering huge potential for a blue revolution in Africa. Yet, African economies remain among the least developed in the world with the size of economies amongst the smallest compared to other regions “, he said.
Dr. Kabanda observed that the continued reliance on commodity exports with little value addition leaves the Continent with limited return, and even poorer. He explained that the real price of commodity exports has been declining over time, and the lack of value addition and beneficiation exports jobs, tax revenues, and growth has a carbon footprint.
According to him, “The more a country exports unprocessed commodity, the poorer the country becomes. This is because markets pay for value creation. Technology owners are known to reap the highest rents in the markets, examples in the mining sector, agriculture, and fishing all show the same results”.
He informed that the RMRDC is poised to take the lead in positioning Nigeria to better harness these emerging opportunities in the natural resources sector. He explained that RMRDC’s strategic areas of intervention align with AfDB’s strategic objective of promoting value addition and industrialization across Africa.
He said the focus of the workshop on enhancing natural resource management and beneficiation, climate change, and job creation is timely because it emphasized that the climate agenda is crucial and Nigeria should take a leading role, with NLNG carbon sequestration initiative, Nigeria has a unique opportunity to position itself at the forefront of climate innovation to drive inclusive growth.
Dr. Kabanda reaffirmed AfDB’s availability to align and support the Council in developing a comprehensive program aimed at positioning the raw materials sector for real and green growth.
“I would like to close by reaffirming our commitment to work with all of you on this laudable undertaking under the overall leadership of our own Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group and Vice President of the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Complex of the bank, Prof. Kevin Urama”, he stated.
