Kebbi: Bagudu partners USADF, launches $10m enterprise investment drive

Kebbi State Government (KBSG) Monday hosted a delegation from the United States Africa Development Foundation (USADF) and the US Embassy on Monday, inside Government House, Birnin Kebbi.

During their meeting, USADF/KBSG enterprise investment Programme was officially launched.

During the ceremony to kick start implementation of the program which will catalyse into the disbursement of the $10m joint counterpart funding of $1m each per annum by each party for a five-year period, the USADF and the representatives of the US embassy in Nigeria, applauded the development strides of the state and its Governor, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, especially for his giant steps in agricultural development which resonated nationally.

The USADF and the US embassy representatives singled out the positive outcomes of governor Bagudu’s policies to impact the underserved members of the communities as the basis for their cooperation with Kebbi state.

In his speech, the USADF president Mr. CD Glin, said his organisation was committed to making Nigeria a strategic priority, and the partnership with the state was a critical component.

USADF President also noted the successes recorded by the state in its Anchor Borrowers Program which elicited its strong interest to partner with the state in a bid to broaden the coverage of support in the three agricultural value chains of diary production & processing, groundnut, and rice to upscale outcomes for smallholder producers and cooperatives. 

Mr. CD Glin further also said, ”the USADF partnership with Kebbi is unique as it provided capital and array of technical support to farmers’ cooperative groups to fight poverty”. 

He also observed that kebbi is leading the way for agricultural revolution to lift the vulnerable groups out of poverty.

In his response the state governor Bagudu appreciated the partnership and expressed his government’s commitments towards meeting it’s financial obligations on the joint cooperation between the two parties. 

Governor Bagudu reiterated that even though the scale of investment by the joint cooperation was 10 million dollars, the value that would accrue would be in multiples of that amount. 

He also assured that the partnership “will blossom into a program that will empower millions and help us create more incomes for our people.”

The governor challenged the beneficiaries and the implementors to exploit the great opportunities embedded in the program by growing and scaling up their capacities to export their final products to the high streets retailers of New York & California, under the AGOA pact, to replicate the local Lake rice experience with Lagos state. 

The delegation comprised of the USADF President, Mr. CD Glin, and his partner Sam Williford, representatives of the US Embassy in Nigeria, Mr Scott Clayton and Mr Otaru; the Exicutice Director of Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), Mr. Adamu Garba, and his partner Bello Haruna; and Mr. Matthews of US/Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Kaduna. 

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