The African Development Bank has expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress of the first phase of Nigeria’s Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones project, raising concerns about the disbursement of the $210m loan allocated for the initiative.
According to the bank’s latest Implementation Progress and Results Report dated January 30, 2025, obtained from its website by The PUNCH on Sunday, 98.39 per cent of the total loan remains undisbursed more than two years after the project was approved.
The SAPZS-I project was approved in December 2021 as part of efforts to drive agro-industrial development in Nigeria by establishing processing hubs, supporting infrastructure, and improving agricultural productivity.
However, the project has suffered significant delays, leading to warnings from the AfDB and the introduction of remedial measures to hasten implementation.
The report read, “Procurement of supervision consultants for the DBO contractors is at RFP stage in the case of Kaduna State and REOI stage for Oyo, Imo and Cross River State Design Build and Operate bidding documents have been cleared for four states of Kaduna, Cross River, Oyo and Ogun states and Kaduna has already advertised its DBO.”
