Benue Approves $250 Million National Food City Complex In Historic First For The State

By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

The Benue State Executive Council, chaired by Governor Rev Fr Dr Hyacinth Iormem Alia, has approved the National Food City Complex project, spanning 30,000 hectares of land across Otukpo, Obi and Ado local government areas, as the state’s equity contribution to a more than $250 million agro industrial partnership.

The project is a large scale public private partnership between the Benue State Government and Rexzodeneh Group Limited, backed by a technical partnership with M.K International Inc of South Korea, designed to transform the Otukpo area into an integrated agro industrial hub and Nigeria’s flagship response to the national emergency on food security.

It marks the first formal public private partnership agreement in Benue State’s 50 year history, a landmark shift from subsistence farming toward mechanised, value added agricultural production, following a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2025 and a formal agreement signed the following month after a due diligence process led by the Benue Investment Promotion Agency.

The project runs on a 25 year Design Build Operate Transfer concession, under which the state provides land and critical infrastructure while Rexzodeneh Group finances, builds and operates the complex, with full ownership transferring to the state at the end of the concession period free of encumbrances.

At full scale, the project is expected to create more than 20,000 direct and permanent jobs, integrate over 40,000 smallholder farmers, generate 20 to 25 megawatts of hybrid power and establish five processing lines covering rice, maize, cassava, soybean and poultry feed production.

Officials say the state holds a protected 10 percent equity stake at zero cash outlay, covered entirely by land and infrastructure contribution, with a 70 percent local hiring rule designed to maximise employment benefits for Benue residents.

The Alia led administration says the project reflects its broader commitment to restoring Benue’s status as the food basket of the nation, with ambitions of positioning the state as a leading agricultural hub across Africa.