Governor Hyacinth Alia-led Benue State Executive Council has approved an agreement expected to facilitate about N378 billion investment for the development of National Food City Project, at Ogyoma Akpa in Otukpo Local Government.
The landmark agricultural investment, which is projected to create more than 15,000 direct jobs, is designed to establish an integrated agricultural and processing complex capable of strengthening Benue’s food sufficiency programme and accelerating the state’s transition from primary agricultural production to value-added processing.
The approval was given at the State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alia and announced on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Chief Solomon Iorpev, while briefing reporters on the outcome of the State EXCO meeting at the Government House, Makurdi.
Iorpev said the project would cover more than 30,000 hectares, describing it as a major intervention expected to transform the state’s agricultural sector, enhance food security and create new opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
According to him, the project is a private-sector investment that will establish facilities for processing agricultural produce into finished products for domestic consumption and export.
He said the initiative would also mobilise approximately 40,000 farmers, who would supply primary agricultural commodities, including rice, cassava and maize, as well as livestock feed to sustain the operations of the facility.
The commissioner attributed the development to the commitment of the Governor Alia-led administration to creating an enabling environment for investment through ease of doing business, due diligence and policies designed to attract local and foreign investors to the state.
He said the investment agreement was structured to run for 25 years, after which the facility would be handed over to Benue State Government for full ownership.
In another development, the Executive Council also received the announcement of the unbundling of Benue State into SUB-WASH, a World Bank-assisted programme aimed at reforming and expanding the state’s water supply and sanitation system.
Iorpev said the programme would provide an opportunity to open up the state’s water sector, improve access to clean and potable water and introduce reforms to existing laws governing water and sanitation.
He added that the reforms would create opportunities for greater private-sector participation in the water sector through public-private partnership arrangements.
The commissioner disclosed that a SUB-WASH team was already in Benue to assess the old and Greater Makurdi Water Works for possible expansion, particularly the extension of reticulation networks to new layouts within Makurdi.
He said similar interventions would be undertaken at the Katsina-Ala and Otobi water works, as part of efforts to strengthen water infrastructure and expand access to potable water across the state.
The briefing was attended by the Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Mr Udo Ogwu, and the Executive Secretary of Benue Investment Promotion Agency, Dr John Paul Terhemen.