Leadway, Others to Headline Sterling Bank’s Agric Summit

Sterling Bank Plc has said the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Saro Africa, Mr. Rasheed Sarumi, will deliver the keynote address at its Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) 2021.

In a statement, the Group Head of Agric and Solid Minerals, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Bukola Awosanya, disclosed that the summit will hold remotely simultaneously in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Lagos between September 22nd and 23rd, 2021.

“ASA 2021’s theme will be, ‘Building The New Agro Order,’ she said.

According to Awosanya, Mr. Sarumi is an accomplished entrepreneur who spearheaded the growth of Saro Agro Sciences as the pioneer Managing Director from inception in 1991 till 2010.

“He is currently the GMD of Saro Africa International, a group made up of companies with an interest in agro-input solutions, heavy agro-industrial processing and consumer goods. Other notable stakeholders on the African continent in the agriculture space have also confirmed their participation at the fourth edition of the summit, organised by Sterling Bank in collaboration with Leadway Assurance, Saro Africa, Thrive Agric, AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited, GIZ AFC, Mastercard Foundation and Stears Data, “she said.

She added that Mr. Sarumi is a graduate of Agricultural Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State and an alumnus of both Harvard Business School in the United States (US) and Lagos Business School Executive Education in Nigeria.

She said Professor Benedict Oramah will also present a keynote address on the Green Mile – AfCFTA, Trade and Africa’s Agribusiness Economy on the opening day of the summit while Dr. Gerald Smith, Consulate General, Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon at the US Embassy, will present another keynote address on the closing day of the summit with the sub-theme: All-Inclusive Agriculture (Food Security, Raw Materials Production and Innovative Funding Solutions).

“On the opening day of the summit, there will be three-panel sessions to discuss the keynote address from different perspectives. Discussants in the first session will examine: ‘The Role of Financial Institutions in Facilitating Regional Trade under AfCFTA and AfCFTA and Agribusiness in Africa – Opportunities and Threats.’ The discussants are Abba Bello, Managing Director and CEO of NEXIM; Yusuf Yila, DDF CBN and representative of the Minister of Trade and Investment and Ernest Aubee, ECOWAS Head of Agric, “she said.