• Calls for establishment of economic zones in region
• Aig-Imoukhuede wants rent economy scrapped for productive regional economy
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), says the economic situation in the Niger Delta region is alarmingly unsatisfactory, given the region’s vast economic potentials including human resources.
Thus, the WTO boss recommends that the nine states that constitute the oil producing region need to establish “special economic centres to drive industrialisation” within the region.
Okonjo-Iweala, while speaking at an inaugural Niger Delta economic and investment summit at the the Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the Niger Delta region possesses the ingredients to become Nigeria’s next great industrial hub, standing alongside Lagos as an engine of national economy.
She stressed that abundant natural resources alone is not a guarantee to development, calling for improved project execution, better maintenance culture, efficient ports, enhanced digital infrastructure and lower trade costs.
With a combined nominal GDP in excess of N45 trillion (approximately $60 billion) based on recent state economic assessments, the core oil-producing states in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region (Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Imo, Ondo, Bayelsa, Edo, and Abia) have received an estimated $160 billion in cumulative federal allocations and development funds, including via the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since 1999.
Additionally, the nine Niger Delta states capture a massive share of national federation accounts via the 13 percent oil derivation principle, making states like Delta and Rivers top revenue recipients nationwide.
However, the states exhibit a paradox of poverty. Despite immense macro-level wealth from oil and gas, the region struggles with severe infrastructural deficits, localized poverty, and weak human development indicators due to historic challenges in converting resource rents into productive capital.
Recent policy dialogues call for a shift toward diversification. In particular, the Niger Delta Economic and Investment Summit—organised by the Niger Delta Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA), emphasizes transitioning from an extraction-based rent economy to a competitive blue economy, coastal trade, and agribusiness.
“The socio-economic situation of the Niger Delta people is far from satisfactory. The region needs to try and do better. We have a few things going for us as a region. NDCCITMA can take the lead and attract investors. The region can position itself to become a trade hub because our region is endowed,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
NDCCITMA was established by the NDDC as a private-sector-led business membership organization to promote sustainable trade, industrial growth, and economic diversification across the nine Niger Delta states.
The summit, with a theme, “Driving Investment, Innovation & Industrial Growth in the Niger Delta,” brought together key stakeholders, investors, policymakers, development partners and business leaders to explore opportunities for sustainable economic development in the region.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman of Access Bank, and the summit’s keynote speaker, called on the elite in the Niger Delta region to move away from lamentation and begin to formulate a development compass.
“We need to move from a rent economy to a regional and productive economy. The Niger Delta must use its resources to become Africa’s economic powerhouse. Real transformation across the continent would depend on deliberate execution rather than promises alone,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.
Idaere Ogan, the board chairman of NDCCITMA identified the NDDC and the governments of the nine Niger Delta states as development partners in building a sustainable regional investment ecosystem.
“The summit was a strategic, private-sector-led platform to mobilise investment and unlock the Niger Delta region’s economic potential, anchored on the theme: Driving Investment, Innovation and Industrial Growth in the Niger Delta. Our vision is to bring together the nine Niger Delta states, the Federal Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission, organized private sector, domestic and international investors, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations, financial institutions, project developers and other strategic partners around a common objective and to transform the Niger Delta from a predominantly resource-dependent economy into a diversified, productive, industrialized and globally competitive regional economy,” Ogan said.
According to him the summit was designed not just as another conference, but as an investment and transaction platform that the region possesses opportunities far beyond crude oil. From gas and petrochemicals to agriculture and agro-processing; maritime and blue economy, manufacturing; aviation and transportation; renewable energy; tourism; digital economy; logistics; infrastructure and financial services, the Niger Delta possesses the resources and market opportunities required to become one of Africa’s leading investment destinations, the NDCCITMA board chairman said.
“We intends to showcase strategic investment opportunities capable of transforming the regional economy, including agro-industrial and oil-palm value chains, gas utilization and gas-based industries, regional transportation and aviation, maritime infrastructure, industrial and logistics hubs, renewable energy, manufacturing, skills development, digital infrastructure and other high-impact projects”.
Samuel Ogbuku, the NDDC managing director said the Niger Delta’s greatest resource are its people, the human resources, stressing the need to build their capacities to drive economic growth in the region.
He emphasized the need for greater collaboration among the people and governments of the Niger Delta states to industrialize the region and advocated setting up a think tank to galvanize ideas.
According to him, global investors require an enabling environment, including investment and active participation by the people of the region.
He regretted the continued capital flight from the region, where international companies benefit from its resources without creating adequate employment opportunities and other economic benefits for the people.
