L – R AFEX CEO Ayodeji Balogun and SWAgCo MD BabajideArowosafe while signing the signing ceremony at the deal room of the Feed Nigeria Summit 2021 |
The partnership was announced at an MoU
signing ceremony at the deal room of the Feed Nigeria Summit 2021.
Focus crops for the partnership include
cassava, rice, and maize.
The Commissioner of Agriculture for Ogun
State, Dr Adeola Odedina, highlighted the alignment of the project with the
ambitions for agriculture in the state.
“Our agricultural agenda as a state
continues to be bold and exemplary, and this agreement is a very important step
in that agenda. Together with AFEX and SWAgCo, we are creating a Staple Crop
Zone as a vital part of the execution of the Special Agro-Industrial Zone
(SAPZ) for the state, being developed in partnership with the Federal Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the African Development Bank
(AfDB).”
AFEX will deploy its exchange platform to
both raise financing for the project and enable market access for the products
derived from the project.
“Our partnership with the Ogun State
government and SWAgCo is integrating the private sector’s efficiency and
innovation with the forward-thinking plans and agenda of the government of Ogun
state in a way that will create jobs and enable wealth creation for the
country”, said Ayodeji Balogun, CEO, AFEX, while signing the tripartite
agreement at the deal room of the Feed Nigeria Summit.
“As a commodities exchange and capital
market player, we are able to deploy a blended finance product that will drive
production and industrialization within the state, and help to achieve the
mandate of the SAPZ,” he said.
Balogun said that AFEX’s goal is to create
a way to triple the yields of staples to six-eight metric tons and continue to
produce wealthy farmers for Nigeria, stating that the company would not stop in
the South-West region but would spread its operations across all regions in
Nigeria.
Although the project will be funded from
both public, development as well as private and commercial sources, AFEX, as a
commodities exchange, will be responsible for mitigating the project’s market
risk by ensuring that the project’s output is guaranteed market access.
Commenting at the signing ceremony of the
tripartite agreement, the MD/CEO of SWAgCo, BabajideArowosafe, said, “We are
working with an institution like AFEX that is able to structure the
agricultural food system in the country in a commercial way that delivers value
to different operators in the value chain.”
“We have come into an alliance with AFEX to
drive the SAPZ agenda in partnership with the Ogun State Government. We have a
triplicate agreement – AFEX, SwagCo, and the Ogun State Government – to create
the right platform for a seamless takeoff of the SAPZ agenda under commercial
and private sector terms.
“In the long run, we want to industrialize
the agricultural space within the southwest and then for Nigeria as a country.
We hope to have a partnership that encourages private sector operators to come
in and benefit within the SAPZ agenda to deliver a more structured industrial
revolution in the country,” Arowosafe said.
The execution of the agreement will
strengthen all levels of agricultural activities in Ogun State, and help in job
creation and the achievement of food security for the country.
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