Dangote Group has confirmed collaborating with strategic partners to revitalise and strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
The commitment comes as the company sponsors the 17th National Agricultural Show, which opens today in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
The group’s spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, stated that expanding mechanised agricultural practices would play a critical role in boosting Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while creating meaningful employment opportunities for the country’s growing youth population.
“Through this partnership, the company aims to encourage greater participation in commercial agriculture and reinforce its role in advancing Nigeria’s economic growth,” he said.
Chiejina submitted that the theme for this year’s event, “Employing Smallholder Farmers: Restoring Value, Ensuring Productivity, will Ensure Attainment of Food Security in Nigeria” was apt.
He added: “Restoring the value of agriculture offers Nigeria more than nostalgic appeal; it provides a pragmatic route to economic renewal. With the right incentives and modern practices, agriculture can once again serve as a reliable engine of growth, anchoring jobs, stabilising markets and giving the economy a sturdier foundation.”
The show, a fixture in Nigeria’s agricultural calendar, offers a platform for showcasing innovation across the value chain.
The statement said the company is currently developing rice mills in Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi and Sokoto states, with a combined total milling capacity of 1.5 million tonnes yearly.
It noted that the effort is intended to support government’s broader push for food security.
The statement quoted Senior Adviser to the President of the Dangote Group, Mrs Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman, as saying that, in line with the company’s commitment to restoring value to agro-allied industrialisation in Nigeria, it is investing heavily in its backwards integration projects in the sugar sub-sector in Nasarawa and Adamawa states.
Speaking on participation of the Dangote Group, Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria, organisers of the yearly agricultural show, Kabiru Adamu, noted: “Dangote Group has been our greatest ally from inception and we have enjoyed tremendous and invaluable support from them such that without them we will not be able to continue to hold the show efficiently.”
Adamu, who is also President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), urged the group to focus on agriculture, after its success in the oil and gas sector.