Farmers Review Africa Sept/Oct 2018 FRA - September - October 2018 digital 5 | Page 45

FEATURE
he expects to take agriculture to the
next level. $110Bn in 2025 should the current
status quo be maintained.
According to research reports, an
additional 38m Africans will be hungry
by 2050. On the other hand, the
paradox of lack in the midst of plenty,
and Africa’s growing youth bulge are
some of the reasons that compel
Adesina’s sense of urgency. Mr. Adesina points out that Africa
receives only 2% of the US $100Bn
annual revenues from chocolates
globally. He is of the opinion that
adding value to what nations produce
is the secret to their wealth.
Fortunately, the same is resonating
with numerous government, private
sector, and multilateral leaders during
Value addition in produce
Meanwhile, Africa continues to import
what it should be producing, spending
US $35Bn on food imports each year,
a figure that is expected to rise to US
To expand opportunities for youth,
women, and private sector players,
Adesina is currently looking to promote
and seek support for the bank’s
Affirmative Finance for Women in
Africa (AFAWA) program. AFAWA aims
to mobilize US $3Bn in support of
women entrepreneurs who historically
lack access to finance, land, and land
titles. From this will be a US $300m
that will help ENABLE Youth program
to develop the next generation of
agribusiness and commercial farmers
for Africa.
There is also a new global investment
marketplace, the African Investment
Forum, which will be held in
Johannesburg November 7-9.
Minister for Foreign Trade and
Development Cooperation, in the
Hague; Peter van Mierlo, CEO of the
Dutch Entrepreneurial Development
Bank (FMO), believes that a huge
benefit for Africa is that it can skip
development cycles that often
almost all developed countries
had to go through, by deploying
new technologies such as artificial
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