Nigeria is presenting investors with a clearer path to opportunities that span state lines and extend into West African markets, according to Hon. Uba Maigari Ahmadu, Minister of State for Regional Development. Speaking at the USAFRICA Business Week in New York, Ahmadu highlighted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's regional development agenda, which aims to provide a more coherent development picture for investors. The event, convened by Pacetas Agency, is a U.S.–Africa business and policy engagement platform.
The USAFRICA Business Week, held during the United Nations General Assembly high-level week, serves as a gateway to regional trade, helping participants identify the right African markets through market insights, strategic dialogue, and deal-focused engagement. Executive Director Gbenga Omotayo stated that the platform is designed to facilitate investment opportunities in Africa. Ahmadu was later joined by Dr. Mariam Temitope Masha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Regional Development Programmes, in making the case for coordinated planning to help investors identify opportunities.
The officials highlighted that Nigeria's Ministry of Regional Development now oversees development commissions serving the country's regions, including the North Central, North West, North East, South East, and South West, as well as the Niger Delta and South South. These regional structures can help address gaps in infrastructure, such as roads, power, and agriculture, and present a more coherent development picture. Ahmadu and Masha used the example of a processing plant to illustrate their point, noting that reliable energy, farm supply, transport, and access to buyers are crucial to an investment's success.
The speakers tied Nigeria's domestic regional planning to President Tinubu's wider West African economic agenda, which aims to make ECOWAS a production base with more manufacturing, regional value chains, and trade among neighboring countries. The administration has also emphasized more efficient borders, digital customs processes, and adoption of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System to facilitate African trade. Regional coordination can help connect these pieces, identify areas for public investment, and determine which private partners can participate.
The message for prospective partners was practical: assess a Nigerian project by the supplies it can draw from neighboring states, the infrastructure it needs, and the customers it can reach. Better regional planning and trade systems could reduce friction, although each proposal still requires its own commercial and regulatory due diligence. USAFRICA convened the exchange as part of its focus on capital, policy, and market access across the U.S.–Africa corridor.
The conversation between Ahmadu and Masha gave USAFRICA Business Week a national counterpart to its separate "Investing in Abuja" session, both of which explored how public priorities can be translated into projects that investors can evaluate and benefit Nigerian businesses and communities. Follow-up will determine which regional opportunities can be defined, prepared, and taken to prospective partners.
The USAFRICA Business Week is part of a larger effort to promote U.S.–Africa business and policy engagement, with a focus on capital, policy, and market access. The event provided a platform for Nigerian officials to outline investment opportunities and regional development plans, and for investors to assess potential projects in Nigeria and West Africa.
Key points
- Nigeria's regional development agenda offers investors a clearer path to opportunities that span state lines and extend into West African markets.
- The country's Ministry of Regional Development oversees development commissions serving various regions, which can help address infrastructure gaps and present a more coherent development picture.
- Coordinated planning and regional coordination can help investors identify opportunities and connect the pieces of Nigeria's domestic regional planning and wider West African economic agenda.
