In a bid to accelerate agro-industrial development in Nigeria, the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) engaged with Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority (BORBDA) on large-scale agricultural collaboration, with a strong focus on food security and sustainable livestock feed production.
The high-level meeting, held at the NCSP office in Abuja, brought together top executives from both organisations. The engagement aimed to explore mutually beneficial partnerships aligned with key bilateral agreements under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), as well as Nigeria’s broader economic transformation agenda.
Welcoming the BORBDA delegation, the Director General of NCSP, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, outlined the agency’s strategic role in coordinating and monitoring over 55 China-Nigeria bilateral agreements across priority sectors, including agriculture, mining, education, infrastructure, and healthcare. He highlighted NCSP’s deliberate shift from transactional engagements to integrated, development-driven partnerships with China, positioning Nigeria to unlock long-term value from the cooperation.
Speaking on behalf of BORBDA, the Managing Director, Dr. Olufemi Samuel Adekanmbi, commended NCSP’s strategic alignment with national priorities. He spotlighted the persistent challenge of livestock feed shortages in Nigeria and presented BORBDA’s flagship proposal, the National Feed Development Initiative.
This initiative proposes the establishment of feed production centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, utilising an innovative combination of Juncao grass, soybean meal, and black soldier fly larvae. Dr. Adekanmbi explained that the project is designed to enhance food security, promote nutritional improvement, create jobs, especially for youth through collaboration with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), and mitigate herder-farmer conflicts. He noted that BORBDA already possesses land and irrigation assets needed to commence implementation and called for NCSP’s coordination in mobilising Chinese technical expertise and investment.
Both organisations expressed strong optimism about the partnership’s potentials, with NCSP reaffirming its readiness to facilitate investment, engage relevant Chinese government agencies and private sector players.
This engagement reinforces NCSP’s commitment to transforming bilateral agreements into catalytic, high-impact programmes that support Nigeria’s industrial and agricultural renaissance, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
