Nigeria is hoping to get US$40mn from Afreximbank for the export of cassava chips to China in 2013, and is discussing an ongoing partnership.

The country’s minister of agriculture and rural development, Akinwumi Adesina, believes the financing, benefiting 15 to 20 Nigerian firms, would make African products more competitive in the global market.

Adesina is also in talks with Afreximbank regarding an ongoing partnership towards a government-enabled, private sector-led development of agricultural business in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is implementing an agricultural transformation agenda and wants Afreximbank to come in and participate across the value chain”, he says.

The partnership would mainly target the cassava, cocoa and rice sectors, as the Nigerian government is establishing staple crop processing zones across the country to encourage private sector investment.

Afreximbank has said it will co-operate with Nigeria alongside government efforts to “change the face of agriculture”, also looking at broader areas of the agricultural business, such as infrastructure, cold chain and product processing.