The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has unveiled a far-reaching economic blueprint to industrialise Northern Nigeria through coordinated investments in mining, agriculture, and power, with over $ 10 billion in investment pledges made during the just-concluded Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit (NNIIS) held in Abuja.
The two-day summit, themed “Unlocking Strategic Opportunities in Mining, Agriculture, and Power (MAP 2025),” brought together government officials, investors, development partners, and state representatives who agreed on a roadmap to transform the North’s economy from one defined by “deficits” to one built on “untapped potential and opportunities.”
Convened by the Northern Elders Forum under the leadership of Prof. Ango Abdullahi, the summit marked a significant step following the NEF’s earlier Social Charter for investment in the region. It attracted delegates from Turkey, India, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and several African countries, signalling strong international investor interest in the region’s vast economic prospects.
The forum resolved to establish the Northern Nigeria Economic Development Council (NNEDC) as a dedicated agency to coordinate and manage the region’s industrialisation agenda under the joint oversight of NEF and the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NNGF). The council is expected to deliver the Northern Nigeria Economic Development Masterplan (NNEDM), which will consolidate strategies in mining, agriculture, power, and technology.
“The Charter signed by the Northern Governors commits them to establish the NNEDC as the dedicated coordinating agency for the region’s economic agenda. The NNEDC will operate under the joint oversight of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NNGF),” the communiqué stated.
“It shall serve as the institutional and programme management body to midwife the Regional Integration Agenda of Northern Nigeria, with full mandate and empowerment from the governments of the region,” it added.
“Its central task will be to drive the delivery of the Northern Nigeria Economic Development Masterplan (NNEDM)—a composite framework consolidating strategies in mining, agriculture, power, industrialisation, technology and all other sectors of economic concern,” the forum said.
To ensure prompt implementation, the communiqué announced that a Joint Implementation and Monitoring Taskforce (JIMT) would be constituted within 30 to 60 days to publish an action matrix for the operationalisation of the NNEDC. The forum also emphasised transparency and accountability, mandating quarterly scorecards to track measurable outcomes such as jobs created, megawatts added, and investments mobilised.
“The Summit marks a decisive pivot from rhetoric to execution. With security as the bedrock, policy coherence as the framework, and private capital as the engine, Northern Nigeria can translate its natural endowments and human capital into sustainable growth,” the communiqué declared.
“NEF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to shepherding this agenda—anchored on transparency, accountability, and inclusive prosperity,” it concluded.
