Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The South-West Development Commission (SWDC) has inaugurated an Action Committee tasked to turn TransComs, its rural transformation programme, from concept into delivery, executing pilot projects and laying the groundwork for regional scale-up within 180 days.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), SWDC, Dr. Charles ‘Diji Akinola, while inaugurating the committee at the close of the TransComs co-creation roundtable at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, said the committee would serve as the Commission’s delivery engine, ensuring the project moves rapidly from stakeholder engagement to measurable impact on the ground.
The committee will be co-led by Dr. Akinola and Prof. Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Programme Director of the Foundation for Technology Innovation and Sustainable Development (FTID), SWDC’s technical partner on the initiative.
The committee is structured around four pillars designed to anchor credibility and de-risk execution. Leading development finance institutions, including the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Bank of Industry (BoI), join the South-West Agribusiness Company (SWAgCo) to anchor the finance and investment stream.
Policy and coordination were represented by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, the Southwest Governors’ Forum, and the Commissioners for Agriculture and budget from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states.
