Nigeria secures $3m investment in climate-smart agriculture at COP31

Nigeria has secured a $3m investment agreement for a climate-smart greenhouse farming project in Kano State as part of efforts to attract private-sector investment, strengthen food security and promote sustainable agricultural production.

At the ongoing COP31 climate summit in Türkiye on Wednesday, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding for a pilot greenhouse project under the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme.

The $3m Kano project will bring together the Bank of Agriculture, the SAPZ programme and Turkish firm, Direkci Group, to deploy about 1,000 climate-adapted greenhouses for tomato production.

Under the arrangement, the Bank of Agriculture will provide $1.5m to establish a structured financing mechanism for participating farmers, while Direkci Group will contribute another $1.5m in private-sector financing, alongside greenhouse technology, engineering, installation and technical support.

Kyari described the agreement as more than a memorandum of understanding, saying it was a practical step towards modernising agricultural production and attracting private capital into the sector.

He said, “Our ambition must go beyond producing more food. The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has given us that marching order and has demanded since he declared an emergency on food, that we must build an agricultural sector that is modern, productive, commercially viable, and capable of creating wealth for our people.”

The minister said the project demonstrated how public institutions and private investors could work together to move agriculture away from traditional production methods towards technology-driven and market-oriented agribusiness.

He added that the initiative would prioritise women and smallholder farmers by providing access to productive assets, financing, technical mentorship and market linkages.

Kyari said the partners had also made provision for a joint performance review after nine months, with a possible commercial expansion involving greenhouse systems and equipment valued at a minimum of $30m, subject to agreed acquisitions and performance milestones.

He, however, warned that the success of the agreement would depend on implementation, urging the partners to ensure timely infrastructure delivery, transparent farmer selection, effective financing and measurable development outcomes.

A representative of Direkci Group said the company had confidence in Nigeria and was willing to deepen its investments in the country.

“We believe in a great Nigeria. When we look at the history, Nigeria already has a great future, and we believe in the future of Nigeria, and we are still in Nigeria to make it more invest,” the representative said.

The representative added that the company was prepared to extend its expertise and technology to other parts of the country, while describing the greenhouse initiative as an investment in women, young people and Nigeria’s future.

Earlier, the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change, Tenioye Majekodunmi, said Nigeria was seeking partnerships that would turn climate commitments into investments in communities, industries and infrastructure.

She said, “For Nigeria, climate implementation must mean economic opportunity.”

Majekodunmi said the country was moving from climate policy formulation towards institutional and market execution, adding that it wanted partnerships that would bring finance to projects, strengthen African industries through technology transfer and create green jobs.

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She described a just energy transition as one that must be equitable, nationally determined, adequately financed and responsive to the development needs of emerging economies.

The Nigeria Day event also featured the unveiling of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Emission Tracker, known as NOGIET, by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in partnership with Stakeholder Democracy Network, Global Methane Hub and other Nigerian regulators.

The portal was launched as part of efforts to strengthen emissions monitoring and support the implementation of Nigeria’s upstream decarbonisation policies.

Speaking at a separate NUPRC side event, the Commission Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said Nigeria was well positioned to become a leading carbon capture, utilisation and storage hub in Africa.

She said the country’s depleted oil and gas reservoirs, existing energy infrastructure and regulatory framework provided a foundation for developing carbon storage projects.

Eyesan said, “The global conversation on climate action is increasingly shifting from commitments to execution. Countries are now being judged not by the targets they announce, but by the projects they deliver, the emissions they reduce, and the capital they mobilise.”

She said Nigeria had to reduce emissions responsibly while protecting energy security, economic growth and social development.

The commission chief executive disclosed that assessments by the Clean Air Task Force indicated that methane-abatement measures in Nigeria could cut emissions by about 533 kilotonnes annually, with some implementation costs potentially recovered through the commercialisation of captured gas.

She also said Nigeria’s Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme could support projects utilising up to 250 million standard cubic feet of gas daily and unlock investment opportunities estimated at $2.2bn.

Eyesan said the regulator was working to make decarbonisation an investment opportunity by creating demand for methane measurement, leak detection, emissions monitoring, flare-gas recovery and carbon-management technologies.

The Nigeria Day event was formally opened by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, who commended Nigerians participating in the summit for promoting the country’s climate initiatives and development priorities.

He described the participation of Nigerians at the conference as an opportunity to showcase what the country was doing at home and attract partnerships that would support its climate and national development programmes.

“Thanks to the Nigerian people for promoting our country, Nigeria. I can see that each one of you is very active, from one event to the next, speaking about our country, what we are doing at home, so that we are guided by the leaders of the Turkish government, but also the entire international community.

“So all of you are ambassadors of Nigeria, and I ask that you please clap for yourselves for what you have done so far. And on that note, I want to thank the NCCC for such an excellent coordination of this event,” he said.

The Nigeria Day activities reflected the country’s effort to use COP31 not only to present its climate commitments but also to attract investment and partnerships capable of delivering practical projects in agriculture and the energy sector.