By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

Ogun State has been nominated as one of the beneficiary states of the first phase Implementation of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) Programme in Nigeria.

The Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known during the Special-Agro industrial processing zones programme high-level meeting held via zoom on Monday.

Twenty-four states had participated in the bidding process leading to the announcement of the beneficiaries.

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Other seven states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were selected for the programme to be flagged off in January 2022.

The virtual meeting was also attended by representatives from the African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and other partners.

The meeting, which was the concluding engagement preceding full implementation of SAPZ Programme in Nigeria, equally had the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun; his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde; Imo state governor, Hope Uzodinma, Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai and the Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, in attendance.

Vanguard News Nigeria