The Northern Elders Forum (NEF), in collaboration with global partners, stakeholders and friends of the region, has announced plans to host the maiden edition of the Northern Nigeria Investment and Industrialisation Summit.
The event, scheduled for 29–30 September 2025 in Abuja, is aimed at harnessing the abundant resources of the North to strengthen the country’s development agenda.
NEF said it was working with the 19 states of Northern Nigeria and the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) to ensure the region plays a central role in Nigeria’s economic growth.
Speaking in Abuja, the Forum’s spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jidere, said the summit had been carefully prepared over the past 18 months.
“Its purpose is to host an occasion that will launch a deliberate patriotic agenda, one designed to strengthen the region’s development efforts and open new doors of opportunity for our people, our country, and our partners,” Jidere said.
He described the gathering as more than a routine meeting.
“It is not just another conference. It is the unveiling of a fresh vision. It is an economic call to action, an appeal to conscience, and a strategic plan to unlock the promise of Northern Nigeria,” he added.
The Forum stressed that the summit would focus strictly on economic opportunities and prosperity, not politics, and would serve as “a vision of growth, innovation and partnership.”
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According to NEF, its Strategic Agenda identifies five key pillars for renewal land and agriculture, solid minerals, human resources, infrastructure, and industrysupported by enablers such as education, healthcare, housing and technology.
It also highlighted the North’s strategic position as a gateway to Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, Mali and the Central African Republic, with a population of over 160 million people.
“Northern Nigeria is not landlocked; it is land-linked,” the Forum noted.
Concluding, Jidere said the summit was designed to have both national and global impact.
“The summit is not for Northern Nigeria alone. It is for Nigeria. It is for Africa. It is for all global partners who believe in shared prosperity. When Northern Nigeria rises, Nigeria rises. When Nigeria rises, Africa rises.”
