Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, OFR, has expressed the readiness of his administration to co-finance the establishment of an Agro-processing zone in the State with the African Development Bank (AFDB).
Governor Otti expressed his commitment on Monday, March 2nd, in his office when he received in audience a delegation of the African Development Bank (AFDB) led by its Team Lead, Dr Bernard Onzima.
Gov. Otti assured the delegation that Abia State is ready to co-finance the project as demanded by the team and also provide the enabling environment for the project to thrive.
“We can assure you that the State is ready to co-finance and provide the necessary environment, including access roads and electricity, as you mentioned.
“So, you wouldn’t have any problems. We are already doing that (providing an enabling environment) in a lot of the locations. How much more when we have a project that we are going to be partnering with you.
“So, the government would sit down with your team, understand what exactly is required of us, and then we will not hesitate to handle that,” Gov. Otti assured.
The State Chief Executive, who expressed excitement that the team included Abia State in the possible States in the second Tranche of the project, said that he is happy that the team has already visited the agro-industrial site in Ukwa West and disclosed that there are other areas across the State suitable for agricultural investments.
“I’m happy you have already visited the agro-industrial site in Ukwa West. But then, there are still a lot of other sites.
“There is the one in Ukwa East, and that would be Abia Palm…we have an MoU that we have signed with an international company.
“But then, beyond Ukwa, there is so much land in the northern part of the State, including the central – the Umuahia area and Ikwuano.
“There is the old farm settlement at Ulonna, and that’s around Umuahia North and Bende LGAs. Then, as you move towards Arochukwu, in the Abam area, there is the rubber plantation, all sorts of sites,” Gov. Otti disclosed.
The Governor used the opportunity to thank the African Development Bank for supporting the Abia State Integrated Infrastructural development (ABSID) project, for which the State had already paid its counterpart funding.
“Just last week, I think we paid a counterpart funding, and hopefully the project will take off any moment from now.
“So, this is just to say that we are happy with our partnership with you, and it would not be out of place to even deepen it with the SAPZ project,” Gov. Otti stated.
Earlier, the Team Lead, African Development Bank, Dr Bernard Onzima, said that they came for a pre-appraisal mission for Phase Two of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Programme.
Speaking further, he said, “The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Programme is an initiative of the African Development Bank that is intended to address downstream agro-processing challenges in our member States, and it is therefore intended to de-risk investments in agro-processing.
“This initiative is being implemented in several countries across the continent with a portfolio of slightly over $1.2 billion now in the different regional member countries.
“So, the financing package for Tranche 2 will be $200 million from the AFDB for the 8 States that we are targeting, and we are expecting a co-financing of another $150 million from the Islamic Development Bank.
“What we are doing right now in this pre-appraisal mission is to assess their (States’) readiness to be included in Tranche 2 of the SAPZ Programme.
“We are assessing readiness in terms of the suitability of sites that have been selected. We are assessing the readiness in terms of environmental and social safeguards studies.
“We are also assessing readiness in terms of engagement with the private sector, because we think that agro-industrial processing zones will be more sustainable when the public sector collaborates with the private sector for sustainability,” Dr. Onzima stated.
While noting that the team has visited the proposed agro-industrial hub at Ukwa West, Dr. Onzima said that it is a good site, which is unencumbered. He expressed the hope that the Abia State Government would co-finance the project.
Also speaking during the meeting, the Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Cliff Agbaeze, while thanking the Governor and the African Development Bank for the proposed partnership, explained that Ukwa West was chosen because of the advantage of the proposed site’s proximity to the Abia Industrial and Innovation Park.
We chose Ukwa West because of the advantage of the proposed site’s proximity to Abia Industrial and Innovation Park, and because of the infrastructure that is going to be provided within that space.
“And this will be a huge advantage to set up the special agro-processing zone. So, that’s why we’re doing that. We’re also going to Bende LGA, and then Ikwuano and other locations. So, I believe this is just the starting point. There are several other things we are going to do,” Dr. Agbaeze noted.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Multilateral and Donor Agencies, Mr. Odinakachi Eric Emeh, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Ijeoma Aguwa, were among government officials present at the meeting.
Ctz. UKOHA, NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State.
March 2nd, 2026.
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