Global investors, policymakers and agricultural industry leaders are expected in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in October for the 5th Agribusiness Roundtable International Conference, with organisers saying the event will focus on mobilising private capital and securing investment deals across Africa’s agricultural value chains.
The conference, scheduled for October 25 to 28, 2026, is expected to bring together state governors, federal ministers, multilateral agencies, foreign trade missions, financial institutions and more than 500 industry executives.
Organised by the Nigeria Agribusiness and Agro-Industry Development Initiative (NAADI), South-South Region, and the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), the conference is being held in collaboration with the Federal Ministries of Industry, Trade and Investment and Agriculture and Food Security, as well as the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The organisers said the conference would provide platforms for governments and private-sector operators to negotiate investment, off-take agreements, export contracts and financing for agricultural and agro-industrial projects.
Speaking ahead of the conference, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of NAADI and Chairman of the Central Organising Committee, Dr Howard Usen, said the event was designed to move beyond discussions to concrete commercial transactions.
“Africa can no longer afford to export raw poverty and import processed wealth,” Usen said. “UYO 2026 is engineered not as another talk-shop, but as a continental boardroom where capital meets verified capacity.”
According to him, the conference would bring together sovereign leaders, foreign trade missions and industrial investors to facilitate contracts, processing facilities and stronger integration of grassroots commodity producers into international markets.
The organisers said state governments would also have the opportunity to present investment-ready agricultural assets, Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones and infrastructure projects to institutional investors, development finance institutions and bilateral trade missions.
The conference, themed, “Accelerating Agribusiness Transformation: Unlocking Value Chains to Achieve Food Security, Nutrition Sustainability, Job Creation, Poverty Alleviation, and National Prosperity,” will also feature an international trade pavilion, investor deal rooms, business-to-government engagements, masterclasses and research-to-market sessions.
The event is expected to culminate in the Agribusiness Development and Enterprise Award (ADEA 2026), recognising individuals and organisations contributing to agricultural development.
The release listed Ibom Icon Hotels & Golf Resort as the venue in one section, while the participation details later named Watbridge Hotels & Suites, Uyo. The organisers may need to clarify the venue before publication.
