By Felicia Imohimi
The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has attributed Africa’s agricultural challenges to low investor confidence and weak institutions needed to transform capital into reliable food systems.
Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, Executive Secretary of NADF, said this at the ongoing Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) Summit in Rwanda.
Ibrahim spoke in a presentation titled “Activating Leaders to Unlock Investment in Food Systems”, monitored in Abuja.
He said Africa had significant resources to develop its agriculture sector but needed stronger leadership, reliable data, predictable markets and credible institutions to attract investment.
“Building investors’ confidence requires an agricultural ecosystem where farmers are identifiable, data is reliable, markets are predictable and institutions are credible enough to reduce risks and give investors greater certainty.
“Unlocking investment at scale will require stronger market linkages, improved access to finance and an enabling environment where farmers and agricultural enterprises can become more productive, profitable and commercially viable.
“NADF is increasingly focused on ensuring that public resources are strategically deployed to unlock additional private investment rather than replace it.
“Public capital should address risks and market constraints that discourage private investment, creating conditions for larger pools of commercial and development finance to enter the sector,” Ibrahim said.
He said NADF was advancing financing approaches, including blended finance, co-financing, on-lending and strategic partnerships with banks, insurers, processors and development partners.
Ibrahim also called for a shift in how the success of public agricultural interventions was measured.
According to him, governments should look beyond the amount spent to the additional investment mobilised and outcomes achieved.
“Our success should not be measured only by how much government money we deploy. We should also ask: How much additional investment did that public intervention unlock?
“Farmers must remain at the centre of agricultural investment decisions and be recognised as economic actors rather than simply beneficiaries of government programmes,” he said.
Ibrahim said NADF’s ambition was to help build an agricultural sector that investors, financial institutions and development partners would increasingly be willing and able to finance.
Edited by Uche Anunne