British International Investment (BII) has finalised plans to invest $15 million in equity in Valency International, a trading house for agricultural commodities based in Singapore.

The deal, which is anticipated to close in early 2024 pending regulatory approval, is meant for the development of processing and warehousing infrastructure in Nigeria, according to a statement released by BII. According to the company, after its initial $15 million investment in two years, it has the option to invest an additional $35 million in equity in Valency.

“The support will create up to 2,800 jobs for low-income workers across the country. It will also indirectly provide market access to another 60,000 smallholder farmers and boost agricultural output and exports. The new Valency facilities, funded by BII, will strengthen partnerships with local farmers and processing centres to maximise their output and provide a more stable supply of premium-quality products,” the statement read in part.

A quarter of Nigeria’s GDP comes from agriculture, which employs over one-third of the country’s workforce and is a major contributor to the country’s economy, but food processing and manufacturing are still underdeveloped in the country’s agricultural sector.

“Crop production is the largest segment within agriculture, and it accounts for about 87.6% of the sector’s total output. BII, as the first institutional investor in Valency, will provide value-added support to the company in developing best practices in business integrity and environmental and social management systems. Both parties will work closely to improve job quality, gender inclusion, and value creation.”

Also speaking, the Head of Office and Coverage Director, Nigeria for BII, Benson Adenuga, said, “The strategic opportunity to catalyze growth in Nigeria’s food and agricultural sector should be seized and offers the chance to leverage its immense food export potential.

We are proud to deepen our commitment to food security and smallholder farmers in Nigeria while creating jobs that enable industrialization and facilitate regional and international trade. We are delighted to partner with Valency, and we look forward to the significant impact and economic development that our catalytic capital will support,” Adenuga explained.

Nigeria has 34 million hectares of arable land, of which 6.5 million are used for permanent crops and 28.6 million are for pastures and meadows. It is the world’s second-largest producer of sorghum, only surpassed by the United States, and it comes in fifth for palm oil and cocoa bean production.