The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement, Dr Kingsley Uzoma, PhD, alongside members of the Project Management Office team, participated in the recently concluded The AgriConnect Summit 2025, held May 29-30 at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The summit convened over 300 agricultural stakeholders for discussions on bridging the generational divide in agriculture. The event featured keynote addresses by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing African Development Bank President, speeches from H.E. Gautier MIGNOT (EU Ambassador), the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos, Ms. Yan Yuqing, a fireside chat with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and award ceremonies to winners of the pre-conference youth innovation challenge.
Five comprehensive panel sessions addressed youth empowerment, agro-processing/agri-fintech solutions, education revolution, and private-public partnerships. The panels featured diverse stakeholders, including representatives from Mastercard, Paystack, Promakar Flour Mills Nigeria Limited, Union Bank of Nigeria, OPay, ThriveAgric, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Heifer International, AGRA, Propcom+ (UKAid), OCP AFRICA, Soilless Farm Labs, Atius Synergy Global (ASG), Obasanjo Farms Nigeria etc.
As a panelist on Private-Public Partnerships for Agricultural Self-Sufficiency, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma responded to questions regarding the government’s current PPP strategy, emphasizing President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Administration’s strategic realignment toward ecosystem support and investment enablement rather than traditional subsidy models.
He highlighted existing opportunities within Special Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZs), detailing infrastructure development and investment incentives within designated agricultural processing corridors.
He also detailed the Green Imperative Project, a Nigeria-Brazil Bilateral Program, whose main line of work is the development of food production value chains through the development of Service Centres for agricultural and livestock production, which will support small farmers in agricultural mechanisation, technical assistance and access to the market.
In follow-up discussions, Dr. Uzoma outlined the government’s quality monitoring and assurance role focused on ensuring optimal nutrient composition and quality standards in fertilizer production and distribution.
He emphasized the government’s commitment to monitoring production metrics and ensuring adequate best practices compliance, reinforcing the administration’s pivot toward business-friendly policies and industrial development frameworks.
The PMO team successfully mapped strategic partnerships which will enable further collaboration with priority ecosystem players, supporting national agricultural modernization objectives and advancing food security through innovative partnerships and youth-centric approaches.
