Union Bank partners Niger Food to invest N50bn in agriculture

Olusesan Laoye

The Union Bank of Nigeria says it is investing N50 billion into a partnership with Niger Foods to create 100,000 jobs for both farmers and other Nigerians.

The project will kickstart January 2024.

Executive Chairman, Niger Food, Sammy Adigun stated this in a statement made available to Business Hallmark.

He stressed that the Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Umaru Bago, had signed a Framework Agreement for Commodities Off-take between Niger Food Security and Logistics Company – a state-based limited liability company – and Tropical General Investments – a privately-owned company – to boost efforts towards food security and promotion of economic diversification in Niger State.

According to Adigun “in the agreement, the Niger State Government, the producer, shall be responsible for the cultivation, harvesting, aggregation, and sales of rice paddy, soya beans, maize, sesame seeds to the Off-taker, Tropical General Investments, who shall be responsible for the transportation, logistics, and purchase of farm produce.”

“Tropical General Investments is part of the conglomerate that includes Union Bank, Wacot Rice, Wasil, and Chi groups.”

The Chairman noted further noted that “This transaction involves the production of 600,000 – 1 million tons of food per year over the next five years.

“The production will employ over 100,000 farmers, cropping on over 100,000 hectares across Niger state. This will bring over 1 trillion Naira a year to the Niger state economy annually.”