Calabar — Cross River State took a bold step toward agricultural transformation on Thursday as Vice President Kashim Shettima and African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina broke ground on a $538 million Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in Adiabo, near Calabar.
The project, the second of its kind in Nigeria after Kaduna, aims to boost food production, reduce imports, and turn Nigeria into a regional food export leader by leveraging the state’s ports and research institutions.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Shettima described the SAPZ as “a national priority for food security,” calling on all tiers of government and private stakeholders to collaborate. “There is no better time than now,” he said, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated efforts to achieve the zone’s long-term goals.
Funded through a consortium of international development partners, the Cross River SAPZ is part of a broader initiative covering eight states and the Federal Capital Territory. The AfDB is investing $210 million, with $50 million coming from its Africa Growing Together Fund. Other contributors include the Islamic Development Bank ($150 million), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with $100 million, the Green Climate Fund ($60 million), and the Nigerian government ($18 million).
AfDB President Adesina called the day a “milestone for Nigeria,” adding that the project would “bring jobs, wealth, and prosperity” by treating agriculture as a serious business. He emphasized that with Nigeria’s fertile land and labor force, the country has no reason to rely on food imports. “Bakassi Deep Sea Port will make Cross River a logistics hub for trade with Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau,” he noted.
The Adiabo hub sits on 130 hectares and will be powered by existing facilities at Tinapa and Calabar. It also benefits from its proximity to cocoa-producing regions like Ikom, Etung, and Boki. With technical backing from the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria and the University of Calabar, the zone is expected to significantly increase Nigeria’s cocoa export potential.
Governor Bassey Otu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to clustering smallholder farmers around key crops such as rice, cassava, cocoa, and oil palm. “This is a vital step toward agro-industrialization,” he said, predicting measurable economic impact within two years.
IFAD Country Director Dede Ekoue noted the SAPZ would build on the existing LIFE-ND project, which has already empowered 26,000 youth and women agripreneurs in the Niger Delta—4,000 in Cross River alone—with plans to scale that number to 100,000 by 2028.
Minister of Agriculture Abubakar Kyari described the SAPZ as “a powerful catalyst for economic growth and import substitution,” underlining its role in the country’s broader development agenda.
With a total commitment of $934 million across 11 African countries, the AfDB sees SAPZs as game changers for rural economies. At the 2024 Africa Investment Forum in Morocco, Nigeria’s Phase 2 of the project attracted over $2.2 billion in investor interest for expansion into 28 more states.
As machinery moves in and groundwork begins at Adiabo, Cross River’s journey toward becoming a beacon of agro-industrial progress has officially begun.