• Upcoming conference to woo global investors, position zone as nation’s next agricultural hub
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
The Presidency and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) have finalised arrangements to raise a $500 million agribusiness investment fund to drive large-scale commercial agriculture in the Niger Delta.
They described the oil-rich region as secure and ready to emerge as the country’s next major agricultural investment destination.
The programme, being put together by the Office of the Vice President and NDDC, will be made public at the inaugural Niger Delta Agriculture Development and Investment Summit slated for July 15, at State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday at the state house after briefing Vice President Kashim Shettima, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, said the summit reflected President Bola Tinubu’s determination to diversify Nigeria’s economy by unlocking the vast but largely untapped agricultural potential of the Niger Delta.
According to him, the event, with the theme, “Unlocking Investment for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in the Niger Delta,” has the full endorsement of Tinubu and is designed to attract about 500 participants, including international investors, development finance institutions, agribusiness firms, donor agencies, policymakers, development partners, and stakeholders from across the region.
Hadejia said the summit was a strategic intervention aimed at repositioning the Niger Delta from a region known almost exclusively for oil production to one recognised for modern, commercially driven agriculture capable of boosting food security, exports, and job creation.
He stated, “The summit represents a strategic shift from potential to performance, from conversation to capital, and from fragmentation to coordination. It aligns squarely with the national vision of building a resilient, diversified, and inclusive Nigerian economy, with agriculture as a central driver.”
Hadejia said although the Niger Delta had historically been associated with hydrocarbon resources, the region possessed enormous agricultural assets and comparative advantage in the cultivation of several food and cash crops capable of strengthening Nigeria’s food security and export earnings.
He said the Tinubu government’s agricultural transformation agenda was national in scope and recognised the Niger Delta as a critical component of the country’s long-term economic diversification strategy.
Managing Director of NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, disclosed that the commission was looking forward to a $500 million investment fund that will serve as a catalyst for commercial agriculture across the nine Niger Delta states.
According to Ogbuku, unlike earlier agricultural conferences, the July 15 conference will be an investment marketplace where investors, financiers, agribusiness operators, and development institutions would negotiate concrete financing opportunities rather than merely discuss policy proposals.
He stated, “We are moving agriculture in the Niger Delta from subsistence to large-scale commercial production. The target is to mobilise a $500 million investment fund that will catalyse agricultural development across the region.”
Ogbuku said Abuja was deliberately selected as the venue because it offered easier access to diplomatic missions, international financial institutions, donor organisations, and foreign investors expected to participate in the summit.
He stated, “It is a global programme. We are bringing the Niger Delta to where the capital is. Most of the investors, donor agencies and international organisations are based in Abuja. Holding the summit here makes participation easier and significantly reduces logistics costs.”
The NDDC boss added that collaboration with the Office of the Vice President provided strategic coordination for the initiative, as Shettima currently supervised several key federal programmes on food security and economic development.
According to him, the commission is shifting from traditional intervention programmes to sustainable financing models capable of attracting substantial private sector investment, while delivering long-term economic benefits to the region.
He stressed that the proposed investment fund would be professionally managed in accordance with international best practices and would combine equity investments with direct capital mobilisation, instead of relying solely on conventional government lending.
Ogbuku also explained that NDDC had established the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce to facilitate structured financing for agribusinesses, and had already provided it with N5 billion to support small and medium-scale enterprises through a transparent, repayable funding arrangement.
He revealed that the commission was promoting out-grower schemes linking farmers with guaranteed off-takers while partnering private investors to establish modern storage facilities aimed at reducing post-harvest losses and increasing farmers’ incomes.
Ogbuku stressed that agricultural development could only succeed when every segment of the value chain functioned efficiently, recalling that a commission-supported rice mill in Rivers State failed to achieve optimal output because of inadequate supplies of paddy.
“You cannot build processing facilities without guaranteeing raw materials,” Ogbuku stated, adding, “Development works only when every component of the value chain functions together.”
