Africa agribusiness set to become $1 trillion ‘new oil’ industry by 2030 — AfDB

Africa’s agribusiness sector is expected to grow to become a $1 trillion industry by 2030, participants at a recent Africa Investment Forum (AIF) have concluded, predicting that agribusiness will become a catalyst in driving the economy on the continent.
Leaders of Africa’s top agribusiness companies, who shared their thoughts on the future of the industry during the AIF, were united in believing that agribusiness will become the ‘new oil’ on the continent. For example, Jennifer Blanke, Vice President at the African Development Bank (AfDB), noted that agriculture is a key priority for the pan-African multilateral development bank through its Feed Africa strategy. “By transforming Africa’s agriculture sector, it will become the engine that drives Africa’s economic transformation through increased income, better jobs higher on the value chain, improved nutrition, and so on,” Blanke said.
But while at present only $7 billion is invested in the sector annually, some agribusiness leaders believe there is a need to invest $45 billion per year to harness the power of agriculture; and move up the value chain to create jobs and wealth. To that end, they have called for increased investments from the private sector to create an adequate environment and enhance the emergence of locally owned agro-processing industries, capable of creating jobs and increasing incomes in rural Africa. The continent could become a net exporter of agricultural commodities, replacing $110 billion worth of imports, as well as doubling its share of market value for select processed commodities.