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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Ekiti seeks $500m investment from Egypt to boost industrialisation

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Ekiti State, Nigeria, is seeking $500 million in industrial and trade investment from Egypt.
  • The goal is to boost the state's industrialization and create jobs through engagements with Egyptian industrialists.
  • The state government is focused on converting expressions of interest into tangible industrial projects and investments.

The Ekiti State Government in Nigeria is actively pursuing industrial and trade investment totaling $500 million from Egypt. This initiative aims to accelerate the state's industrialization drive and generate both direct and indirect employment opportunities. The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, announced that a recent five-day mission to Egypt engaged with over 40 Egyptian industrialists, manufacturers, processors, agribusinesses, mining operators, and investors.

We want to build agricultural value chains where farmers have reliable markets, processors have access to the volumes and quality they require, and more of the value created from our agricultural resources remains within Ekiti.

— Ebenezer BoluwadeCommissioner for Agriculture and Food Security on the state's agricultural development goals.

These engagements resulted in eight Expressions of Interest (EOIs) and potential commercial collaborations across key sectors, including agriculture, agro-processing, commercial farming, seed production, textiles, manufacturing, and solid minerals. Boluwade emphasized the state's commitment to building robust agricultural value chains, ensuring farmers have reliable markets and processors have access to necessary volumes and quality, thereby retaining more value within Ekiti.

Connecting production to industry is central to our food security, employment and economic development agenda.

— Ebenezer BoluwadeCommissioner for Agriculture and Food Security on the importance of linking agriculture and industry.

The Commissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry, Omotayo Adeola, stressed the importance of moving beyond expressions of interest to establishing actual industries on the ground. The focus is now on conversion, leading to site visits, commercial agreements, capital deployment, factory establishment, and job creation. Ekiti is positioning itself as an open destination for serious industrialists and investors from Egypt and globally who are prepared to build productive businesses within the state. The Special Adviser to the Governor, Dr. John Ekundayo, highlighted that the true measure of these engagements will be their tangible impact on employment, business strength, productivity, and new economic activity.

Our focus now is conversion – moving from Expressions of Interest to site visits, commercial agreements, capital deployment, factories and jobs.

— Omotayo AdeolaCommissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry on the next steps for securing investments.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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