Dangote Boosts Agriculture with New Rice Mills
By Patience Ikpeme
The Dangote Group has announced major strides in its agricultural expansion strategy with the development of large-scale rice mills across five northern states, a move the company says will significantly strengthen Nigeria’s food production capacity.
According to the company, the rice mills — located in Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi and Sokoto — will have a combined processing capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum once completed.
The initiative is part of an ongoing collaboration with strategic partners to support the revitalisation of agriculture and deepen the sector’s contribution to the national economy.
The disclosure comes as the conglomerate sponsors the 17th National Agricultural Show, which opens on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
In a statement, the Group’s spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, said the company’s investments in mechanised agriculture are central to efforts aimed at accelerating economic growth and expanding job creation for Nigeria’s youth.
“Expanding mechanised agricultural practices will play a critical role in boosting Nigeria’s GDP while creating meaningful employment opportunities for the country’s growing youth population,” he said.
Chiejina added that the company is committed to encouraging wider participation in commercial agriculture as part of its broader vision for economic transformation. “Through this partnership, the company aims to encourage greater participation in commercial agriculture and reinforce its role in advancing Nigeria’s economic growth,” he stated.
Speaking on this year’s theme for the National Agric Show — Employing Smallholder Farmers: Restoring Value, Ensuring Productivity Will Ensure Attainment of Food Security in Nigeria — Chiejina said it captures the realities and the potential of the agricultural sector.
“Restoring the value of agriculture offers Nigeria more than nostalgic appeal; it provides a pragmatic route to economic renewal. With the right incentives and modern practices, agriculture can once again serve as a reliable engine of growth, anchoring jobs, stabilising markets and giving the economy a sturdier foundation,” he said.
The National Agricultural Show, regarded as a major event in Nigeria’s agricultural calendar, provides an avenue for showcasing innovation across the entire value chain and creating linkages between producers, investors, and policymakers.
Reiterating the company’s commitment to building a stronger agricultural base, the statement also quoted the Senior Adviser to the President of the Dangote Group, Mrs. Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman, who noted that the Group is intensifying investment in various backward-integration projects.
She said the company is currently investing heavily in the sugar sub-sector in Nasarawa and Adamawa States as part of its broader industrialisation strategy. “In line with the company’s commitment to restoring value to agro-allied industrialisation in Nigeria, it is investing heavily in its backward-integration projects in the sugar sub-sector in Nasarawa and Adamawa States,” she said.
Wali-Abdurrahman further stated that the Dangote Group’s fertilizer complex in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, continues to strengthen the agro-inputs segment. “As part of its contribution to the agricultural sector, the company has a fertilizer complex in Lagos… with a production capacity of 3 million metric tonnes per annum of urea,” she said.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria, Arc. Kabiru Adamu, praised the Dangote Group for its longstanding support of the agric show. “Dangote Group has been our greatest ally from inception and we have enjoyed tremendous and invaluable support from them such that without them we will not be able to continue to hold the show efficiently,” he said.
Adamu, who also serves as the President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), encouraged the Group to sustain its pivot toward agriculture following its milestone achievements in the oil and gas sector. He noted strong expectations for this year’s event.
“This year we envisage a tumultuous turn out of farm machinery manufacturers, processors, researchers and youth and women farmers answering the clarion call to bolster Nigeria’s food system,” he said.
