Union Bank, Niger Food Partner to Invest N50bn in Food Production in 5 Years

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Union Bank of Nigeria ((UBN) will invest N50 billion in partnership with Niger Foods to boost food production, starting from January 2024, the Executive Chairman, Niger Food, Sammy Adigun said yesterday.

In a statement in Osogbo, he stressed that the Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Bago, had already 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 ramp up efforts at food security and promote economic diversification in the state.

“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, which 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,” he stated.
The Chairman noted that the transaction involved the production of 600,000 to 1 million tons of food per year over the next five years.

According to him, during the period, the programme will employ over 100,000 farmers, cropping on over 100,000 hectares across Niger state. “This will bring over N1 trillion a year to the Niger state economy,” he stated.