R-L(in the front line): Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Mr. Hamid Kunle Kareem; Resource Person, Engr. Temitope Famoroti; Project Infrastructure Engineer, SAPZ National Coordination Office, Engr. Maruf Ajenifuja; Team Lead, SAO Capital, Mrs. Omotola Agbi; State Project Coordinator, KW-SAPZ, Engr.Dr. Busari Toyin Isiaka; and other staff of KW-SAPZ Project at the capacity-building workshop, held at G-Pinacle Suites Hotels, Ilorin.
The Transaction Advisory Firm (SAO Capital) has organized a 3 Day capacity-building workshop for State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of KW-SAPZ Project, aimed at improving social and economic development of the state.
At the workshop held today at G-Pinnacle Suites Hotel, Ilorin, the Kwara State Government expressed confidence on the viability of the State Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ ) Project, assuring that numerous infrastructure are available, to drive its implementation towards achieving project’s objectives, for economic and social improvement.
The State Commissioner for Livestocks Development, Honourable Oloruntoyosi Thomas, dropped the hint, while declaring open the workshop.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Mohammed Yahaya, the Commissioner maintained that government strongly believes that agriculture is a towline for economic development in the nation, thereby taking a bold move from production to processing, in order to revolutionise the sector.
Thomas, who commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for being one of the Governors who have earnestly keyed into the SAPZ project in the first phase, noted that the project is a good platform to bridge many gaps, adding that His Excellency has put in place myriad of infrastructure, to ensure that the project is viable and comes to fruition, for the economic transformation of the people.
She therefore urged participants to be attentive to achieve the objectives of the capacity-building workshop.
In his opening remark, the Coordinator of Kwara Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Project, Engr.Dr. Busari Toyin Isiaka, disclosed that the gathering was not just “a routine workshop, but a strategic platform to strengthen our collective capacity, in driving the vision of SAPZ Project – a vision that seeks to transform Kwara State into a competitive hub for dairy and beef value chains, to improve livelihood and stimulate industrial growth in agriculture.”
Busari observed that the sessions would enable the staff to “operationalise the Agro-Industrial Hub in Malete and strengthen the Agricultural Transformation Centres across the four locations of Afon, Olodan, Kinikini and Gidan Mangajiya with a view to increase sustainable linkages with private sectors.”
According to him, the workshop would expose participants to technical know-how in project management, teamwork and stakeholders engagement and investment portfolio management, stressing that such are tools required in the delivery of mandate, in accordance with global best practices and expectations of partners including Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), SAPZ National Coordination Office.
Earlier, the Team Lead, SAO Capital, Mrs. Omotola Agbi, acknowledged the fact that, with SAPZ project and other numerous schemes by the state government, Kwara has become a larger picture, adding that; “this will make the state to be outstanding through individual good representation. The workshop will roll out technical details for the participants.” She concluded.
The workshop featured sessions where Engr. Temitope Famoroti and Dr. Lukman Popoola took participants through “Overview of Agro-Industry and Processing in Nigeria”, Project Managemen” and other topics.
SAO Capital is the Transaction Advisory Firm, employed to technically guide the implementation of Kwara-SAPZ Project.
The 3 Day Capacity building Workshop which commenced today was attended by the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Funke Sokoya and other top government functionaries.
