Nigeria’s bet for the upcoming presidential elections at the African Development Bank is looking to agriculture to unlock jobs and transform the continent’s rural economies.
And that hardly comes as a surprise, given Akinwumi Adesina’s extensive agricultural background, from serving as vice president of policy and partnerships at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa to being at the driver’s seat of Nigeria’s agricultural transformation over the past few years.
As Nigeria’s agriculture and rural development minister, Adesina has been widely credited for bringing an end to — or at least reducing the risk of — corruption in the fertilizer industry by putting the private sector in charge of delivery. Nirsal, the agribusiness facility he introduced in 2011, is often cited as instrumental in getting banks to increase their agricultural lending.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
