L-R: Sammie Somari, Counsel to the Legal Representative of NDCCITMA; Idaere Ogan, Chairman, Niger Delta Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture; Solomon Ediebiri, NDCCITMA Secretary; and Lyna Okara, NDDC Director of Commercial and Industrial Development.
The long-awaited Niger Delta Economic & Investment Summit (NEIS) 2026 takes off today, September 15, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the organisers, Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA), eyeing an ambitious $50 billion in investments over a five-year period.
The Dr Obi Wali International Conference Center, venue of the summit, has been seeing a flurry of activities, as the delegates, which could run up to a thousand, began arriving on Monday.
Delegates are expected from the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers, as well as local and foreign investors.
Other delegates to the summit will include development finance institutions, captains of industry, policymakers, innovators, and community leaders “to unlock high-impact opportunities across agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, tourism, the blue economy, and the digital economy,” NDCCITMA stated.
The summit targets include about $50 billion in structured investment commitments over the next five years, while promoting inclusive economic growth, youth entrepreneurship, and sustainable regional industrialisation.
The summit’s theme is “Driving Investment, Innovation & Industrial Growth in the Niger Delta”, and it is being organised in partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The summit will feature interesting thematic sessions to address issues from key sectors of the economy, including Unlocking the Non-Oil Economy, Strengthening MSMEs and Industrial Value Chains, Green Growth and Sustainable Development, Regional Trade Integration and Infrastructure Competitiveness, Youth Innovation, Startups and Digital Transformation, and Energy and Nature.
Over 30 deal room projects, which the organisers asserted have been pre-screened and are bankable projects drawn from all the Niger Delta states, are at the centre of the summit. The organisers said the deal room projects have been vetted and are investment-ready.
The Niger Delta Economic & Investment Summit, which is the first of its kind to be organised in the heart of the Niger Delta region, is also expected to generate about 500,000 jobs.
NDCCITMA sees the summit “as a structured investment marketplace to mobilise capital, accelerate industrialisation, and diversify the Niger Delta economy beyond its historical dependence on crude oil.”
NDCCITMA said the summit would “Reposition the Niger Delta as a credible destination for domestic and foreign capital, promote youth and MSME participation in the regional value chain, and facilitate policy alignment between federal and state governments on investment, land, and regulation.
It is expected to lead up to the production and signing of a proposed Niger Delta Economic Compact, a document that will be a multi-stakeholder transformation roadmap for the entire oil producing region.
The summit itself will be preceded by various roundtable meetings to discuss investment in some specific sectors of the regional economy.
The roundtable discussions will focus on the establishment of the Niger Delta Regional Development Bank, Niger Delta Air Connectivity, Delta Palm Oil Refinery, an Integrated Gas Utilisation System in the Niger Delta Region, enhancing the Blue economy of the Niger Delta Region, and ease of doing business in the Niger Delta.
The above, NDCCITMA said, will “set the tone” for every other development at the three-day summit.
Aig-Imoukhuede, founder, Coronation Group & Affiliates; Founder, Tengen Family Office; former Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank and chairman, Access Holdings, is the keynote speaker.
Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, and Paul Adaikwu, director general, Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), will be the guest speakers at the event.
NDCCITMA, the institutional anchor, an initiative of the NDDC, is driven by the determination to improve the life of the people of the Niger Delta Region and has an avowed commitment to reposition the capital and investment potentials of the region.
Its vision is to provide a sustainable structure and platform through which established entrepreneurs, innovators and struggling businesses can advance their aspirations.
The NDDC, through the Chambers of Commerce, is seeking to bring investment opportunities in the region to the attention of potential investors within and outside the country, provide jobs for the Niger Delta youths, develop skills and entrepreneurship, adopt and adapt technologies to increase productivity and promote the export of goods and services.
As a result, NDCCITMA is positioned as a catalyst for development for all sectors and categories of the economy, such as the informal sector: nano, micro, small, medium and even large-scale businesses and industries.
The Chamber is expected to enhance the NDDC’s drive in achieving its vision and mission with the goal of boosting the socio-economic development of the Niger Delta Region through commerce, trade and industry.
The event package includes a 30, 60 and 90 days Post-Summit Follow-Through by the Niger Delta Investment Facilitation Office (NDIFO), which will become operational immediately after the summit.
“Within 30 days: outcome note published and pipeline validated. Within 60 days: investor follow-up, project-preparation tracks assigned, and reform bottlenecks escalated. Within 90 days: first conversion scorecard issued showing pipeline movement, signed mandates, and early-win reforms,” the organisers disclosed.
The Niger Delta region has been described as the goose that lays the golden eggs, but for over 60 years of oil exploration and extraction it is yet to witness real development that is capable of transforming the region.
States’ interconnectivity by road, air and water remains a topical issue as efforts to bridge the infrastructure development gap have not yielded any tangible results.
