By Bassey Udo
More than 90 moribund fertiliser blending plants located in different parts of the country were reactivated and made operational in the last nine years under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI).
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), which anchored the PFI, said although it took over a moribund fertilizer blending landscape with just four plants in 2016, it successfully grew the total number to over 90 by July 2025.
The Managing Director/CEO of the NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, disclosed this on Friday at the annual PFI Stakeholders Roundtable in Abuja to enable key stakeholders in the agriculture value chain in the country to deliberate on the journey and successes of the PFI programme.
Umar-Sadiq said the increased number of blending plants in operations across the country has resulted in the delivery of more than 128 million bags of blended high-quality fertiliser to Nigerian farmers.
The intervention of the NSIA through the PFI with the directive of the Federal Government, he noted, has significantly improved fertiliser accessibility and affordability, enhanced food security, and created over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country.
The MD who expressed delight at the achievement of the NSIA as it formally transitioned the PFI programme to the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) said its inception 2016, it has evolved into one of Nigeria’s most impactful agricultural interventions to address structural inefficiencies in the fertilizer supply chain and reduce dependency on imports.
Through strategic direction of the PFI programme, he said the NSIA led the significant transformation of the country’s previously moribund fertilizer blending landscape.
“Despite global supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, persistent foreign exchange volatility, macroeconomic pressures like the devaluation of the Naira, PFI remained resilient as NSIA, working closely with relevant stakeholders, ensured uninterrupted supply of fertiliser to farmers at stable prices,” he said.
In recent years, he said the initiative underwent a strategic restructuring, focused on its positioning for enhanced financial and operational sustainability.
He disclosed that the next phase would see the introduction of wet blend technology, geographic expansion to underserved regions, and a stronger focus on private sector participation, setting the stage for additional positive impact.
Describing the Stakeholders Roundtable as a significant exercise, the NSIA Chief said it provided an opportunity to honour nearly a decade of positive impact, strategic partnership, growth and reform in the agriculture sector of the economy.
He said the PFI presents a model of what collaboration between public institutions, and the private sector could achieve, adding that the NSIA remains committed to strategic partnerships that would enhance positive socio-economic outcomes for Nigerians.
“By strategically leading the PFI programme for almost a decade, NSIA re-validates its commitment to advance food security, empower stakeholders within the value chain and ultimately propel sustainable economic growth and development in Nigeria,” he said.
As the PFI transitions to MOFI, he reiterated NSIA’s continued focus on catalysing impactful investments, promoting public-private sector collaboration, and support for initiatives that optimise positive outcomes in Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Dr. Amstrong Takang, said with the exit of the NSIA as the joint management partner of the PFI, the agency was committed to the continued success of the programme through sustained strategic support to the PFI-NPK Limited under the full control of MOFI Management Company Limited (ManCo).
Takang said the roundtable was convened for PFI-NPK stakeholders to reflect on the journey so far, assess the impact of the reforms, evaluate the evolving partnership with stakeholders and envision the future of the PFI through the post-NSIA strategic transition plan.
He described the roundtable on the theme:‘PFI: A journey of Reform, Partnership and Transition’ as a defining moment that afforded the PFI-NPK investors, managers, and stakeholders a unique opportunity to chart a course forward for an initiative that has truly been a transformative and impactful model of success.
“Over the years, the PFI-NPK programme has played a role in transforming Nigeria’s fertilizer ecosystem, from expanding domestic blending capacity to enhancing farmers’ access to quality fertilizers and advancing national food security objectives,” he said.
The success recorded so far, he advised, must never be allowed to be a disincentive for further progress, adding that only sustained stakeholder engagement could unlock new vistas of progress.
He said the theme of the Roundtable was carefully chosen to show appreciation to stakeholders for their long-standing commitment to the PFI, and to remind all parties that the journey ahead required even greater effort if more remarkable successes were to be recorded.
This year’s Roundtable, he pointed out, was convened for key stakeholders across government, industry, and the private sector to have a strategic dialogue focusing on progress made, challenges ahead, and collaborative pathways to sustain and scale the PFI’s impact.
The Federal Government established the PFI, a fertilizer intervention project, to, among other things, stimulate local production of fertilizer by reviving the local blending fertilizer industry; make fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers at affordable prices; enhance food security as a result of the expected increase in food production; reduce food-induced inflation and stimulate economic activities across the agriculture value chain.
The implementation of the PFI commenced in December 2016 through NAIC-NPK Limited (now PFI-NPK), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSIA, on behalf of the FGN.
Following the restructuring of the PFI in 2021, PFI-NPK became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the MOFI.
The PFI-NPK subsequently engaged Managers to manage the operations and implementation of the PFI on its behalf through the signing of an Operational Management Agreement (OMA) with NSIA and MOFI Management Company Limited (ManCo) as Managers.
The exit of NSIA from the joint-management arrangement scheduled to take effect from November 2025 is expected to allow ManCo to serve as the sole manager of the PFI-NPK.
