Lagos, Nigeria, September 17, 2020: Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria's leading commercial bank, has said Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), will deliver the keynote address at the Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) 2020 holding between September 23rd and 24th.
Agriculture Summit Africa, an annual event organised by Sterling Bank since 2018, is one of the continent’s leading, privately funded platforms dedicated to increasing the value of the agribusiness value chain. It creates a convergence of private and public sector interests, development finance institutions, agribusiness investors and players every year. The theme of this year’s Summit is, ‘Fast Forward Agriculture: Exploiting the Next Revolution.’
In respect of government’s directives on public gathering, this year's summit is a hybrid event, with participants expected to participate online while a few selected guests will be in Lagos and Abuja studios.
In a statement issued by the Bank in Lagos yesterday, Yemi Odubiyi, Sterling Bank’s Executive Director of Corporate and Investment Banking, said several notable dignitaries are expected to deliver goodwill messages at the Summit. They include Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Prof. Ben Ayade, Governor of Cross River State; his Kebbi counterpart, Senator Atiku Bagudu; and his Royal Majesty, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, the Oniru of Iru Kingdom.
Dr. Kwasi Attah-Krah, Director, Advocacy and Country Alignment Function (ACAF), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Director General’s Office, is expected to deliver another keynote address on the theme of the summit on the second day.
Odubiyi said Sieleka Gatabaki of Mercy Corps will be the moderator and lead discussant of the first technical session with the sub-theme: ‘Role of Data and Technology in Agriculture’. Other discussants are Dr. Lavar Kumar from IITA; Nneke Eze, Partner Daiberg; Ayodeji Balogun, Managing Director of AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited, and Dr. Michael Famoroti from Stears Data & Analytics.
He said the second technical session with the sub-theme: ‘Role of Financial Intermediation in Agriculture’ would be moderated by Femi Ogunjimi, Partner at CardinalStone Capital Advisers. The panel of discussants include Dr. Martins Fregene, Director, Agriculture and Agro-Industry, AFDB; Bukola Awosanya, Group Head, Agric Finance and Solid Minerals with Sterling Bank, and Garba Mohammed, Group Head for Sterling Alternative Finance and CBN's Director of Development Finance, Yila Yusuf.
The lead discussant at the third session on the ‘Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture’ will include Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, Managing Director, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing system for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL); Dr. Halilu Shaba of Nigeria National Space and Research Agency; Segun Adaju, Chief Energizing Officer, Consistent Energy Limited, and Justine Leigh-Bell, CEO of Climate Bond Network.
The session on Public-Private Partnership will be handled by Dr. Tayo Adulujo, a Senior Fellow Public Policy with Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG). The discussants include Ade Adefeko, Vice President, Corporate & Government Relations, OLAM; Jude Uzonwann, MD TUG Capital Partners ; Mallam Abdulkadir Mu’azu, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Yohannes Assefa, Director, Agriculture and Agribusiness, USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub.
The session on ‘Building a Sustainable ecosystem for Smallholder Farmers’ will include Chidinma Lawanson, Country Rep, Mastercard Foundation; Segun Falade, GM, Golden Agric Inputs, Flour Mills; Chichi Aniagolu, Country Rep, Technoserve, and Kola Masha, Managing Director, Babban Gona.
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