- Twenty-five Chinese investors led by COVEC inspected sites in Katsina for $720m agricultural and renewable energy projects.
- Plans include crop value chains, cattle ranching, solar power, and agro-processing zones with an initial $150m investment.
A delegation of 25 Chinese investors, led by China Overseas Engineering Group (COVEC), inspected sites in Katsina State to explore agricultural and renewable energy projects worth $720 million.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), A’isha Rimi, disclosed this on Monday, September 1, in Katsina. Represented by the NIPC Director of Strategic Services, Abubakar Yerima, she said the investors plan to establish a complete agricultural value chain covering rice, maize, cassava, and fisheries, alongside a 10,000-head cattle ranch.
Meanwhile, Rimi revealed that the proposals include agricultural machinery assembly plants, a solar power facility, a leather processing factory, and an agricultural research institute for goat and cattle breeding. She noted that the delegation visited sites in Jibia, Mashi, Daura, Mai’adua, and Kaita, which are local government areas.
She added that the projects would require 4,000 hectares of land with an initial investment of $150 million. The investors also proposed a special agricultural processing zone, a green economic zone, and a commercial commodities hub in Mai’adua.
Rimi commended the Katsina State Investment Promotion Agency for its preparedness, noting that the investors were impressed with the presentations. She stressed that with NIPC facilitation, the investors had already committed $200 million in Niger State, later expanded to $720 million, and announced $620 million in Jigawa and $500 million in Oyo State.
COVEC, a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited, has executed more than 1,000 infrastructure projects in nearly 100 countries, including highways, railways, and power plants. In Nigeria, the company has signed agreements with nine agro-industrial firms to co-locate within the Niger State Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.