Tuesday, November 29, 2022

AU Summit Showcases Common African Agro-Parks

 28 November 2022. The African Union Members States, the Regional Economic Communities, the United Nations (FAO, UNIDO, ECA), and Development Partners converged to discuss the implementation and financing modalities for the establishment of the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs)

The event took place on the margins of the ongoing AU Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification, in Niamey, Niger, under the theme: “The Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) as a vehicle for attracting private investments in establishing transboundary mega agro-industrial hubs on the continent”, within the framework of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP) and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.

The creation of 5 large agro-industrial zones, one in each region of Africa, will serve as major agricultural development hubs for the continent.

The Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Programme is a mega-initiative aimed at creating regional agro-industrial hubs implemented by the African Union.”

The CAAPs was conceptualized to respond to the continent’s demand for increasing the supply of locally produced agricultural goods, reversing projections on African food imports, value-added processing of agricultural products to boost intra-African trade and investment, tapping on the African food import market approximated at $50 billion per year.

CAAPS, a 37-million-dollar investment, has already received USD 0.5million USD in seed capital from Afreximbank. On the implementation of the cross-border agro parks in Zambia and Zimbabwe

The CAAPs also intend to provide over 8 million job opportunities within the crop and livestock value chains.



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