Nigeria and Brazil launched a 1.1-billion-U.S-dollar agricultural mechanization project on Thursday, aiming at covering the entire agricultural value chain.
Tagged the “The Green Imperative,” the project is private-sector driven, with both Nigerian and Brazilian investors committed to investing and working on it, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The program was designed as a combination of service centers where technical capacity and training will occur, involving the local assembly of tractors and other agriculture machine and processing centers where agro-processing will be done, said Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The launch of the project was attended by other officials, including the Brazilian ambassador to Nigeria Ricardo Guerra de Araujo.
The Nigerian government described the project as “a significant landmark in the revolution of agriculture in Nigeria.”
Agriculture is currently a signature focus and the centerpiece of Nigeria’s economic diversification efforts.
This new project would be implemented with a total loan package of 1.1 billion dollars, largely from the Brazilian government, according to Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed.
The implementation of the project is expected to cover all of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
Zainab told reporters in Abuja that the loan would be disbursed in four tranches over two years.