………Affirms readiness to Hand Over Strong Economy to Successor.
FIC Report (Nasarawa State) – Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has declared open the 2026 Nasarawa Investment Summit, marking the formal commencement of activities ahead of the third edition of the biennial summit scheduled to hold from the 26th of April to the 7th of May, 2026.
Governor Sule declared the summit open at the Nasarawa Investment House in Lafia, recently.
Speaking at the event, the Governor said the summit, themed “Bold Transitions: Building a Legacy for Sustainable Futures,” reflects seven years of deliberate and consistent reforms aimed at attracting investment to the state and strengthening the institutions that make investment possible.
He said his administration had worked hard to improve the ease of doing business, reform land administration, and put in place policies that encourage private sector participation across agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and infrastructure.
Governor Sule noted that these efforts have positioned Nasarawa State among the top ten most competitive states in Nigeria according to the World Bank ease of doing business ranking.
He said the 2026 summit is the last under his administration and is designed not just to promote investment but to signal that the progress achieved over the past seven years is tied to institutions and policies, not personalities.
He pointed out that the summit will reassure investors that whatever political transition takes place in 2027 will not disrupt ongoing projects or alter the business environment they have come to trust.
“We want investors to know that what we have built is not going to disappear after we leave. The institutions will remain. The policies will remain. That is the message of this summit,” the Governor said.
He announced that John Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, has been invited to deliver the keynote address at the main summit, while Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is expected to serve as Special Guest of Honour.
Governor Sule said a major highlight of the summit will be the launch of the Lafia Declaration, a voluntary commitment to be signed by gubernatorial aspirants, legislators, the judiciary, development partners, and investors, pledging to sustain the state’s economic direction beyond the current political cycle.
He said the summit will also feature a structured deal room for investors, an MSME competition and enterprise support showcase, and a policy dialogue around the Nasarawa Gas Master Plan, which he described as critical to the long-term industrial transformation of the state.
The Governor disclosed that the summit has already begun receiving financial support from existing investors in the state even before its formal launch, adding that he expects the total private contributions to exceed what the government plans to spend on the event, following the pattern of the two previous summits.
He called on all stakeholders, traditional rulers, political parties, aspirants, development partners, and citizens to support the vision of continuity and use the summit as an opportunity to align around a shared agenda for a prosperous Nasarawa State.
A welcome address, Managing Director/CEO, Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), Ibrahim Abdullahi, disclosed that since the inception of the Nasarawa Investment Summit in 2022, Nasarawa State has attracted a cumulative 2.3 billion US dollars in foreign and domestic investments.
According to Abdullahi, from the landmark first summit in 2022 through to 2024, the state recorded 1.8 billion US dollars in investments alongside 1.3 million US dollars in technical assistance.
“In 2025 alone, Nasarawa State attracted an additional one billion US dollars, of which 505 million dollars have already been actualized — a testament to the credibility and consistency of this administration’s investment promotion drive,” he said.
ARI, LIMAN AMINU.
HEAD OF CENTRE,
FIC, LAFIA.
