By Kadiri Abdulrahman

The World Bank says AgriConnect, its flagship initiative to boost agriculture, will assist smallholder farmers move from subsistence to surplus.

President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, said this on Friday in Washington, during the plenary of the annual meetings of the group.

Banga noted that the initiative was building an ecosystem around cooperatives that would integrate financing for farmers and SMEs, link producers to markets and harness digital tools like AI.

According to him, this is underpinned by a pledge to double financing to 9billion dollars a year and mobilise an additional 5billion dollars.

He said that the group was also finalising a minerals and mining strategy to help countries move beyond raw extraction into processing and regional manufacturing.

The president further stated that this would enable more value and more jobs to “stay local”.

“We expect to share this strategy in the coming months.

“So, how do we make this real?

“We begin with a single Country Partnership Framework across the World Bank Group, that is developed with the country’s leadership and our subject matter experts,” he said.

He noted that each framework was a long-term strategic plan that united the full capacity of relevant institutions within the World Bank Group around a focused set of priorities.

Banga added that the priorities would be tailored to a country’s unique needs and ambitions.

“In one country, that might mean end-to-end mineral value chains.

“In another, tourism rooted in nature and culture, perhaps stronger health systems that heal and employ or agribusiness ecosystems that lift smallholder farmers.

“The path is tailored, but the fundamentals are shared,” Banga said.

He listed the fundamentals to include building infrastructure, setting clear, predictable rules and supporting private investment.

According to him, to reach scale and free up the balance sheet for the toughest challenges, the group must unlock the full power of the private sector.

“That is why we are breaking down barriers to investment and creating conditions where private capital can deliver development impact.

“We are advancing the roadmap the Private Sector Investment Lab provided, deploying tools and practical solutions across the institution,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chinyere Nwachukwu/Sadiya Hamza