The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched a multinational project to create jobs and improve livelihoods for youths in three African countries, namely Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
The initiative tagged ‘The Creating Sustainable Youth MSMEs Through Urban Farming (SYMUF)’ will support young farmers in the three countries who are attracted to urban farming.
On the scheme, the development finance institution is partnering with a consortium of incubation centres in participating countries to implement the project. They are the Africa Projects Development Centre (APDC) in Nigeria, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Bukavu) in the DRC, and the African Agribusiness Incubation Network in Uganda.
A news report from African Press Organisation (APO) Group, circulated on behalf of the AfDB, indicated that the SYMUF project had received $937,000 in grant funding from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance, a multi-donor trust fund managed by the African Development Bank.
While in different regions of the continent, the three countries all grapple with high youth unemployment and limited economic opportunities.
SYMUF, which is under the bank’s Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment (ENABLE) Youth Programme, will use business incubators and financial products to help transform start-up micro, small- and medium enterprises into bankable ventures. It will provide youths with agribusiness and technical skills, including climate-smart agriculture practices, technologies, market networks, and professional mentorship.
In a speech during the launch in Abuja, the Director General of the African Development Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, Lamin Barrow, who was represented by the bank’s Country Operations Manager for Nigeria, Orison Amu, stressed the bank’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship.
Barrow said: “The Bank is committed to creating jobs and providing incomes for African youth, who are attracted to urban agriculture but do not get jobs, capital, or credit to operate their agribusinesses.
“This project will address unemployed youth and those in the early start-up stage who have not gained traction due to limited skills and financial resources”, Barrow added.
Similarly, the CEO of the African Agribusiness Incubation Network in Uganda, Alex Ariho, projected: that “the SYMUF project would help young African ‘agripreneurs’ overcome start-up incubation and management challenges.
“Working together with all the partners, we are committed to making the SYMUF Project one of the best projects sponsored by the African Development Bank,” he added.
IITA-Bukavu’s Project Coordinator, Noel Mulinganya, lauded the AfDB as “an important and tremendous partner over the years.”
In his remarks, Managing Director of APDC, Nigeria, Chiji Ojukwu, said: “We are grateful to the African Development Bank for believing in the consortium and giving us the opportunity to deploy our expertise in urban farming to develop young agripreneurs in these select African countries
Also speaking at the forum, the AfDB’s Coordinator for the ENABLE Youth Programme, Edson Mpyisi, said: “This program is designed to empower youth at each stage of the agribusiness value chain as ‘agripreneurs’ by harnessing new skills, technologies and financing approaches.”
According to him, the bank has invested over $400 million in 15 African countries under the programme so far.
The Bank’s Division Manager for Agribusiness, Damian Ihedioha, said that “the bank believes that Africa’s emerging vibrant wave of entrepreneurship must be supported and nurtured for the continent’s prosperity.”
