FG, NDDC To Unveil $500m Niger Delta Agric Fund
The Federal Government will, on July 15, unveil its $500m Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund, a commercially managed vehicle that it said would finance large-scale agricultural projects across the nine states of the region, with Vice President Kashim Shettima chairing its Board of Trustees.
It said the fund forms part of the maiden Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit, jointly organised by the Office of the Vice President and the Niger Delta Development Commission at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Addressing a joint press conference at the State House on Thursday, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, said the summit had received the President’s endorsement and would attract about 500 delegates, including agricultural investors, development finance institutions, regional stakeholders and partner institutions, with about 40 resource persons expected to participate.
Hadejia said the initiative reflected President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to the agricultural sector “across all parts of the country.”
He noted that the Niger Delta, though better known for hydrocarbons, “is also an agricultural treasure trove with significant comparative advantage in various cash and food crops, which have been relegated to the background despite the obvious capacity to contribute to national food security and agricultural export potential.”
He said, “The Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit 2026 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.
“We are confident that this initiative will unlock new pathways for investment, create jobs, enhance food security, and position the Niger Delta as a key pillar in Nigeria’s agricultural future.”
Hadejia added that although the initiative was regional, “this is a global programme,” attracting participation from international investment houses, Afreximbank, embassies and the Government of Brazil, which he said had indicated interest.
Responding to questions on whether the new council would duplicate the activities of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, which is already signing agricultural investment partnerships on behalf of the Presidency, Hadejia insisted there was no overlap between the two structures.
He argued, “There is no duplication whatsoever. The Presidential Food Systems Coordination Council was set up by the President to achieve convergence among the various agricultural initiatives when we started having a food security crisis.
“The Vice President is the chairman; there are six governors involved, one from each region; the private sector and most of the largest agricultural businesses in Nigeria are members.
“It simply coordinates food systems, reports to the President, and that is where it stops.”
He continued, “What you are talking about here is not that council. They are raising a $`500m investment fund for agriculture, and the whole essence is for that fund to positively impact agriculture in the Niger Delta region and move it from subsistence farming to large-scale agriculture.
“The Vice President is chairing the Board of Trustees that will oversee that fund. So there is absolutely no duplication, no mandate overlap.”
Hadejia, while urging young Nigerians not to look down on farming, cited India’s agricultural output of about $520bn and Brazil’s $219bn as evidence of the sector’s potential, saying, “If it is done right, then just as agriculture was once relegated, maybe oil will now be relegated as agricultural output rises. That is the stuff of visionary leaders.”
Providing details, the Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, said the summit grew out of a retreat the commission held in Port Harcourt in October 2025, which brought together the commissioners for agriculture and food security from all nine mandate states to chart a path for diversifying the region’s economy away from crude oil.
He explained that, beyond the new fund, the summit would inaugurate the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Council, with the Vice President as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the NDDC Managing Director as Secretary and the commission serving as Secretariat, to coordinate the fund alongside existing financing commitments from development finance institutions, private equity and debt funds, and commercial banks.
Ogbuku said, “A key highlight of the summit is the launch of a $500m Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Fund, a commercially managed investment vehicle designed to finance opportunities across priority value chains, including palm oil, cassava, cocoa, rice, horticulture, marine resources and livestock.
“The summit is convened pursuant to the directive of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, who has called for bold and innovative actions to unlock the economic potential of the Niger Delta through increased non-oil investment, recognising agriculture as a key driver of inclusive growth, food security and economic diversification.”
He added that before the discovery of crude oil, Nigeria’s traditional economy was driven by agriculture.
“Crude oil exploration only eroded our traditional economy, and it became a vicious circle. It brought urban migration, which brought unemployment because the urban centres could not employ everybody.
“But today, we believe that with agricultural investment, people should return to their communities. We want to see giant industrial agricultural investments in the region, just the way we have the IOCs,” he added.
Asked why a regional summit was being held in Abuja rather than in any of the Niger Delta states, Ogbuku said the event was an investment summit, not “a talk shop”, and that capital had to be courted in its own domain.
“If you are looking for capital, you must go close to where the capital is. All the donor agencies and all those we are expecting to participate are here, so you must come to their domain.
“You go to Ondo State, you have the likes of Olam and other big agricultural investment companies. We don’t have any in the Niger Delta, so why can’t we attract them there? You must give them reasons why they have to come to your region,” he said.
On the commission’s past interventions, Ogbuku admitted that some legacy investments had underperformed, citing a rice mill built in Elele, Rivers State, which he said had been hobbled by a lack of feedstock.
“If you build a rice mill and you don’t have feedstock, then the rice mill is standing on its own; it does not serve its purpose,” he said, adding that the commission had evaluated its agricultural assets state by state to identify the gaps the summit would address.
He disclosed that the NDDC recently provided N5bn to the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce to support small agribusinesses in the region, explaining that the arrangement was designed to insulate the commission from political pressure and end the era of beneficiaries treating support as “free government money.”
He said the commission also co-funds the IFAD-backed LIFE-ND programme for small and medium-scale farmers and had partnered with a private firm on a cassava starch mill in Bayelsa State.
Making a case to investors, Ogbuku argued that the Niger Delta’s strongest selling point was security, noting that the region was now “one of the most secure parts of Nigeria.”
He said, “In some other parts of Nigeria, where agriculture is even their main source of income, we hear that many people are afraid of going to the farm because of herdsmen. But today, in the Niger Delta, nobody is afraid. Capital is selfish.
“Capital only goes to where it makes money, and we want to showcase that the Niger Delta is safe and secure for investment.”
