Africa’s Food, Beverage Growth To Hit $1trn By 2030- World Bank Expert

Joel Ajayi

A Senior Agriculture Economist with the World Bank, Dr Adetunji Oredipe, has revealed that the food and beverage sub-sector in Africa has the potential to grow to about one trillion dollars by 2030.

Oredipe made this known at the 2019 Agriculture Summit Africa, a two-day event organized by Sterling Bank in collaboration with the World Bank and other stakeholders.

The economist, who presented a paper on the theme of the summit: “Agriculture: Your Piece of the Trillion-Dollar Economy” said the projection was based on the huge potential in the continent.

According to him, it is on record that Africa’s value system is currently about 313 billion dollars a year, and could triple if government and business leader’s radically rejigged policies and support farmers in the field and agribusinesses.

“The trio of agriculture, farmers and the agribusinesses constitute 50 per cent of Africa’s economic activity.

“If well harnessed, we will be able to increase job opportunities, greater prosperity, less hunger and progress for African farmers to compete globally.

“This will however be achieved if the farmers and agribusinesses undoubtedly receive expanded access to more capital, uninterrupted electricity, modernised technology and good land use policy. These are things that are available in other climes.

“To maintain the shares of the continent’s agriculture GDP in 2030, Nigeria will need to grow its agriculture revenue by compounded annual growth rate of 4.7 per cent.

“To ensure this is achieved, the agriculture budget to the GDP would have to be sustained at a minimum of seven per cent annually,” he said.

He decried that the 2030 growth projection might not be achieved if concerted effort was not made by African countries to reposition the agricultural sector.

He expressed concern that the gap between developed and developing nations was continually widening.

Oredipe recalled that agriculture, which was Nigeria’s mainstay in the 60s, had taken a nose dive, making the country to lose its place to other countries.

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