Over the course of the two-day Bauchi Economic and Investment Summit 2025, Bauchi State secured $5.2 billion in fresh investments, with 47 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed with local and international partners. The summit showcased the state’s enormous business potential and the large number of investment deals might have positioned Bauchi as a thriving hub for business and innovation in Northern Nigeria. DAVID ADENUGA reports.
The Bauchi Economic and Investment Summit 2025 lived up to its billing as a platform to showcase the state’s enormous business potential. Over the course of the two-day summit held between October 8 and 9, with the theme, ‘Revealing a Resilient Economy: Optimizing Investment Partnerships,’ Bauchi State moved a notch higher in its quest to become a hub for business and innovation in Nigeria, particularly in the North.
The state, in Nigeria’s northeast geo-political zone, secured $5.2 billion, about N7.8 trillion in fresh investments, with 47 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed with both local and international partners. And the gale of investment agreements promises to create jobs, boost industrial growth, and position Bauchi as a thriving global hub for tourism and investment.
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Among the major deals signed during the summit which held at the newly commissioned Sir Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre in Bauchi, was a $2.7 billion agreement with China Fuhai Energy Group to construct a Petrochemical City Complex, which is expected to generate thousands of jobs.
The African Athlete Academy also signed a $1 billion MoU to establish a sports and youth development centre, aimed at training athletes and promoting sports tourism in the region. A new indigenous airline, Wikki Air Limited, also sealed a MoU with the Bauchi State Government to commence flight operations from the state, connecting both domestic and international routes.
Other agreements that put the State Government and indigenes in joyous and expectant mood spanned areas such as agriculture, solid minerals, power, tourism, and renewable energy, reflecting growing confidence in Bauchi’s business climate.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Wikki Air, Mrs. Eugenia Ndukwe, said, for instance, that the airline, in collaboration with key industry partners, has finalised arrangements to launch operations soon.
According to Ndukwe, the name Wikki Air was inspired by the state’s renowned Wikki Warm Spring, symbolizing warmth, purity, and resilience. “We are an indigenous airline and have decided to domesticate our name. Though we are not from Bauchi, we believe in promoting the state’s economic potential,” she stated.
Apparently to alley any possible fears by investors over their business long term plan and sustainability, Chairman of the Summit Organising Committee, Professor Murtala Sagagi, assured investors that Bauchi’s investment framework would continue beyond any administration.
He specifically announced plans for the Bauchi Investment Promotion Agency, a one-stop centre to support investors legally backed for continuity. He also introduced the Bauchi Investment for Growth (BIG) Project, linking major investments to SMEs, particularly women-led enterprises, ensuring inclusive growth and job creation.
The Secretary to the State Government and co-chair, Hon. Aminu Hammayo, also highlighted a long-term perspective plan from 2024 to 2033, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aimed at simplifying business operations, harmonising taxes, and strengthening women and youth enterprises through cooperatives and SME programmes.
Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed described the Summit as “a turning point for Bauchi State,” pledging that his administration would fully implement all agreements to bring lasting development. Mohammed assured investors of the state’s readiness to protect investments and explained plans to improve water management and expand solar-powered projects across local government areas.
“We will make you and your investment safer than us. We will make you more important than us,” the governor said, assuring the state’s commitment to both investor protection and economic growth.
While thanking the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, for his support, Mohammed assured investors of safety and enabling conditions. He also pledged to fight corruption and strengthen partnerships to sustain business confidence in the state.
Speaking at the opening of the Summit, Shettima, who represented President Bola Tunubu, said the achievement of the newly commissioned Sir Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre in Bauchi was one of the direct outcomes of the bold reforms undertaken by President Tinubu’s administration since assuming office in 2023.
The conference centre, which spans around 10, 000 square metres, can host 3,000 people, and has five main halls capable of ten separate events along with an outdoor space for 2,500 guests, a mosque, solar installations, standby generators, and full internet connectivity.The Vice President recalled that the administration inherited an economy on the brink of crisis, with the debt service-to-revenue ratio at almost 100 per cent, but noted that decisive policy actions had reversed the situation.
Shettima said “Under this administration, debt service-to-revenue has dropped below 50 per cent, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth stood at 4.23 per cent as of last month, and our non-oil revenues grew by 411 per cent year-on-year”.
According to him, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio now stands at 13.5 per cent, up from about seven per cent a few years ago, while external reserves have grown to $43 billion as of September 2025.
“Our debt-to-GDP ratio remains at 38.8 per cent, far below the 60 per cent threshold set by our Fiscal Responsibility Act and the 70 per cent limits of ECOWAS and the World Bank,” Shettima added.
He told investors that President Tinubu’s administration had taken tough but necessary decisions to remove “the termites in the timber” of the nation’s progress, including exchange rate unification and fuel subsidy removal.
“You cannot guarantee enduring growth without stability. It was this dread that inspired our bold reforms to harmonise the exchange rate regime and dismantle the fuel subsidy structure, which had become a theatre for round-tripping and rent-seeking”, he said.
He urged participants to seize the moment, saying, “Nobody builds a house in a tsunami. Nigeria has exited its phase of economic instability, and I assure investors there is no better time to choose Nigeria.”
Vice President listed the administration’s economic priorities as job creation, food security, value-chain development, and unlocking subnational comparative advantages, stressing that these goals were “anchored on promises that can only be realised when stability is achieved.”
Shettima highlighted Bauchi State’s vast potential in agriculture, solid minerals, tourism, and renewable energy. “Bauchi can spearhead climate-smart agriculture, commercial out-grower schemes, and agro-processing hubs linked to national and export markets. Its natural assets and cultural heritage can boost tourism, hospitality, and the creative industries”, he said.
He commended Governor Mohammed for his vision in convening the Summit, reaffirming President Tinubu’s commitment to treating every state as a development priority, noting, “An affliction to any state slows down the pace of development in other parts of the nation. We must either grow together or falter apart.”
Shettima urged participants to go beyond rhetoric: “Let us move beyond talk and commit to concrete memoranda of understanding, set timelines, and appoint joint implementation teams. Programmes must align with social and environmental sustainability.”
Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, urged Northern governors to ensure investment summits lead to measurable results.
“We come together, deliver fine speeches, and host prominent industrialists—but at the end of it all, what do we achieve?” he asked, insisting, “No one can develop our region better than we can. We must take charge of our own destiny.”
The Sultan stressed the importance of reviewing past summits to see real impact on citizens. “I would like to urge our governors to look back and evaluate the results of these summits—what tangible changes have they brought to our people?” he said.
He also highlighted that peace and security are essential for investments to thrive. “You can invite investors, but if there is no security, they will not stay. Security remains the foundation of any meaningful development,” he added.
The monarch further called on leaders to govern with fairness, integrity, and the fear of God. “In the affairs of men, fear God; and in the affairs of God, fear nobody. If you are doing what is right as a governor, president, or chairman, you have nothing to fear,” he said.
He concluded with an appeal for unity and patriotism, reminding citizens that “We have no other country than Nigeria. Together, we must make it work.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo described the summit as a “sign of hope” adding that investments thrive only with the five Ps—Politics, People, Protection, Partnership, and Progress.
He commended the newly completed Sir Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre as a world-class facility that could make Bauchi a hub for tourism and investment.
Also speaking, Borno State Governor and Chairman of Northeast Governors’ Forum, Prof. Babagana Zulum, said Bauchi’s rich agricultural base remains key to the region’s prosperity, urging investors to take advantage of abundant resources and the ease of doing business in the North.
Similarly, Former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, called for stronger public-private collaboration.
