…Signs MoU with Niger state on 100,000 hectares for pilot
The federal government has launched the Sustainable Integrated Productive Communities (SIPC), a transformative initiative aimed at integrating mass housing, agriculture, renewable energy, and enterprise development into a single framework, with the first pilot set to commence in Niger State.
The initiative is specifically targeted at addressing food security, affordable housing, rural stability, and job creation.
Under the programme, the finance ministry will serve as the anchor institution, interested states are expected to key in, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) will provide strategic asset optimisation and private capital mobilisation support.
Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Niger state on friday, Doris Uzoka-Anite, minister of state for finance called the agreement a milestone in turning policy into measurable action.
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“This is a powerful demonstration of cooperative federalism, strategic alignment, and shared commitment to inclusive economic development, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” Uzoka-Anite said, emphasising that the SIPC programme bridges national priorities with tangible outcomes.
She added that by anchoring farmers in secure, well-planned communities, the government was not merely building houses but “strengthening livelihoods, food security, and long-term prosperity.”
Outlining the objectives of the pilot, the minister noted that Niger State would host integrated farming and housing estates strategically located near production zones, storage, processing facilities, and markets.
“Simply put, when farmers are properly settled, agriculture becomes more efficient, more attractive, and more profitable,” she said.
Uzoka-Anite stressed that the programme adopts an innovative financing model blending public assets with private investment, allowing the government to focus on policy and oversight while leveraging private-sector efficiency.
She highlighted that renewable energy solutions, including solar-powered community infrastructure and mini-grids – to be provided basically by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) – would underpin agro-processing, storage, and household energy needs, reducing costs and enhancing productivity.
According to her, “The mass housing and settlement project will stimulate broad-based economic activity. It will create jobs for engineers, builders, artisans, suppliers, and service providers. It will support local industries such as cement, steel, agro-processing, logistics, and transportation. It will strengthen rural economies and contribute meaningfully to the state’s internally generated revenue.”
She invited developers, pension funds, real estate firms, and agribusiness investors to see the SIPC model as replicable nationwide.
“Through this partnership, we are not just building houses, we are creating stable farming communities, strengthening food security, and laying the foundation for sustained prosperity in Niger State,” she stressed.
Following her remarks, Mohammed Umaru Bago, Niger state governor affirmed the state’s full commitment to the initiative.
He pledged that his government would provide 100,000 hectares of land for the pilot, with certificates of occupancy to be delivered to the federal government on monday. “What is fundamental is the fact that we will be building mass houses within farming communities so farmers can settle and focus on their productive activities,” Bago said.
He stressed that clustering farmers into planned settlements would address long-standing issues including insecure communities, rural-urban migration, weak infrastructure, post-harvest losses, and youth disengagement from agriculture.
Bago highlighted Niger State’s agricultural endowments, including mechanised farming capacity and access to hydropower dams for irrigation, as critical enablers of the project.
He noted the potential for broader economic integration, including the development of farm estates along a proposed rail corridor linking Abuja to Minna and the creation of grazing reserves to reduce farmer-herder conflicts.
“This initiative will address shelter, security of life and property, food security, and sustainable livelihoods at the same time,” he said, adding that the project would showcase “what a farmer governor and a farmer minister of finance can do when housing, agriculture, and finance move together.”
In his remarks, Armstrong Takang, Managing Director, Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), praised the leadership of Uzoka-Anite and Bago, noting that the project demonstrated how governance could be brought to local communities sustainably. “We are taking governance to local communities, and empowering those local communities in a very sustainable manner,” he said.
Takang emphasised that MOFI would leverage public assets to crowd in private capital while ensuring transparency, shared risk, and measurable outcomes. He explained that each home built would generate at least 12 full-time jobs, with additional employment in agriculture, agro-processing, logistics, and related services.
Key federal agencies participating in the SIPC initiative include Family Homes Funds Limited, the Rural Electrification Agency, and Niger Foods Limited, each contributing sector-specific expertise in housing delivery, renewable energy, and agricultural value chain development. Together, they aim to create functional, affordable settlements equipped with roads, water, sanitation, schools, and health facilities.
