Abuja — United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has said, the only way Nigerian government can meet its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 20-2020 is to take the issue of energy poverty seriously.

Director-General of UNIDO, Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, who gave the advice recently in Abuja during a meeting on "Financial Mechanism in Support of African Agri-business and Agro-industries Initiative (3ADI)", also noted that the federal government cannot stimulate manufacturing and attract investments to the country without guaranteeing reliable power supply in the country.

The session is being promoted by UNIDO through the collaborative efforts of FAO, IFAD, AU, AfDB and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

According to Yumkella, "To promote manufacturing and other investments in this country, Nigeria must take the issue of energy serious. It is a shame in most African countries, that most of the cities cannot guarantee 24 hours of continuous power supply, not to talk of the impact on the production systems that we have, whether in the manufacturing or in agriculture.

His words, "Nigeria must pay attention to this. Nigeria must deal with energy poverty. You cannot transform any economy without reliable power supply. You cannot promote agro-industries in the rural areas, if you don't have an energy source.

Continuing, he said, "You become uncompetitive, if your energy cost is too high. We always talk about Nigeria's potential; we should stop talking about Nigeria's potential, we should talk about Nigeria's leadership in the global economic systems.

Poverty, according to him, is deepening, disclosing that in September 2010, they will be doing a review of the MDGs in New York on the ground that after this year, it will remain only five more years to hit the 2015deadline for the realization of the goals.

"Many African countries are behind. Let them meet the first two MDGs, reducing poverty and reducing hunger", he advised.

The Director-General however noted that African continent was facing a demographic challenge, adding that the scaring part of the increase in the population is that by 2030, half of the sub-Sahara Africa population of about two billion will be in the cities like Lagos. "Think about it, you are living in Nigeria; you young men and women, not enough infrastructures, no reliable power supply and guess what, they can't feed themselves because the able men and women have moved into the city. When you look at that and put in context, the imperative that we must invest in agribusiness to stimulate the rural economy, so that people don't head to the cities, there is job opportunities there, there are growth opportunities there".

He said, agribusiness has advanced so much so, that, if you are left behind, the productivity will not be high enough to supply the rest of the household. "Can you use oil money just to import food to feed ourselves?"

Also speaking, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said, although agricultural investments tend to be profitable in the long run, but such investments in Africa were in short supply.

"The total projected demand for agribusiness financing needed till 2050 is $620.4 billion (annual demand of $6.5 billion), whereas current levels of supply are $1.5 -$5 billion per year. This scenario is what has assumed the exotic characterization of the financing gap, which contemporary Africa is facing.

According to him, "Agricultural business and support infrastructure financing by the private banking institutions have been low in Africa compared to the contribution of the agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due largely to perception of high failure rates recorded in agriculture projects, lack of business skills and collateral, information and unconducive loan terms".

Sanusi said, although agriculture is regarded as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy as it provides food and employment opportunities for the rapidly expanding population; raw materials for industrial sector and sources of foreign exchange earnings; but agriculture has continued to suffer successive setbacks since 1970s.

According to him, "Agriculture Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) now has a total capital of N5 billion and beneficiaries totaling 656, 000 who accessed loans valued at N42 billion have been guarantee over a 31-year period. There is also the N200 billion commercial Agriculture Credits Scheme (CACS), which is a seven year, single-digit loan to encourage value chain activities in Nigeria. The most recent effort which will have a significant impact on agricultural development in Nigeria is the N500 billion infrastructure funds in support of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) development and power generation".