As many as between 400 and 450 stakeholders, comprising operators, notable thought leaders, industry experts, and regulators are expected to gather on February 13, 2020, in Lagos to address key and current issues in the Nigerian Agric business space as they relate to current economic developments.
The event tagged Agric Business Summit 2020, is expected to create opportunities for networking among the industry players, and offer participants an opportunity to exhibit their products and services within the agriculture value chain.
With the theme: Unlocking productivity and investment opportunities across the Agribusiness value chain, the summit is jointly organised by Ecobank Nigeria, Vanguard newspapers’ the Economic Forum Series, and the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG).
Head, Agribusiness, Ecobank Nigeria, Mojisola Oguntoyinbo, said the partnership is part of the bank’s continuous contribution to the growth and development of the agriculture sector of the nation’s economy.
The bank recently announced an Agriculture Businesses Finance Scheme that will see it disbursing additional N70bn loans for practitioners in different value chains of the industry within the next two years.
For Oguntoyinbo, this maiden edition seeks “to stimulate discussions, examine critically the opportunities with the intent of unlocking the growth potentials in the entire value chain of the agric sector.”
As part of events for the day, there will be “keynote speakers, panel discussion sessions and exhibition of Agro and Agro-allied products where marketplace experience will be created for buyers and sellers to interact and make sales.”
Further, she noted that the summit would, amongst other things, examine the potential impact of Agric technology investment in fixing low productivity in the country’s food production, as well as how government policy, laws and regulatory framework can drive an effective public-private partnership. It will also help evaluate existing traditional agriculture financing models in Nigeria and the role and impact of technology-enabled commodity exchange trading across the agriculture value chain, besides the role of development partners and international agencies in driving funding and investments across the agriculture value chain.
For Jude Ndu, co-founder, the Economic Forum Series, and Director, Vanguard Conferences, “we are delighted to be partnering with Ecobank Nigeria on the conceptualisation, strategy, and execution of this high profile event in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) agriculture policy and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government.
“As a media organisation, this is our own way of contributing to the growth prospect of the sector through audience engagement by bringing together critical stakeholders to discuss solutions to the issues of low productivity and investment opportunities across Nigeria’s agricultural value chain,” he added.
Notable participants expected at the summit include Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, who is Special Guest; while Dr. Andrew S Nevin, Chief Economist and Partner, Financial Services Sector, PricewaterhouseCoopers is the keynote speaker. Other speakers and panelists are Patrick Akinwuntan, Chief Executive of Ecobank Nigeria, Abdulhameed Aliyu MD/CEO NIRSAL; Emmanuel Ijewere, Vice President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG); Ayodeji Balogun, Country CEO AFEX Commodities Exchange amongst others.