Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC) has unveiled an ambitious plan to attract $5 billion in investment into Benue State as part of a long-term economic transformation agenda aimed at creating jobs, expanding businesses and turning the state’s abundant resources into sustainable wealth.
The summit comes against the backdrop of the recent passage of the Benue State Innovation, Digital and Startup Law, which BIPC described as an important foundation for developing the state’s technology and startup ecosystem.
BIPC, in a statement signed by its Group Managing Director, Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, announced that the company will host the Benue 2035 Economic Transformation, Capital Formation and Prosperity Summit from September 7 to 9, 2026, in Makurdi, the state capital.
The summit, with the theme, “Benue 2035 – From Potential to Prosperity: Building a $5 Billion Investment Platform for Job Creation, Prosperity and Global Competitiveness,” is expected to bring together political and economic leaders, investors, financial institutions, development partners, entrepreneurs, innovators, academics and technology and private-sector executives.
According to Dr Asemakaha, the central objective is to reposition Benue from a state of enormous potential to a productive, investment-driven economy capable of generating jobs, wealth, and sustainable prosperity.
He said the state possesses significant agricultural, human capital, entrepreneurial and economic assets. Still, he stressed that the challenge was to convert those assets into productive enterprises, stronger incomes, sustainable employment, increased government revenue and long-term wealth for citizens.
A major outcome expected from the summit is the development of a $5 billion investment platform designed to attract domestic and international capital into bankable projects across priority sectors of the Benue economy.
BIPC said the initiative would target investments capable of increasing the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income, creating sustainable employment, strengthening internally generated revenue, improving fiscal sustainability, expanding exports and increasing foreign-exchange earnings.
The company said it would place particular emphasis on keeping more value within Benue by developing agro-processing, manufacturing, industrialisation, logistics, technology and export-oriented enterprises.
According to the statement, the summit would also focus on building the human capital required to drive the new economy, particularly by equipping young people with skills and opportunities to become entrepreneurs, innovators and productive participants in the economy.
Technology and the digital economy will occupy a prominent position at the summit, with discussions expected to cover artificial intelligence, automation, agritech, fintech, healthtech, edtech, software development, creative industries and other emerging sectors.
The focus, BIPC said, would be to create an ecosystem where young Benue entrepreneurs can move from ideas to viable businesses and ultimately build scalable enterprises.
Dr Asemakaha said the summit would differ from conventional conferences, as it would operate as a working strategic engagement designed to produce concrete investment and development outcomes.
The engagement will utilise Hudson Global’s Swift Alignment of Strategic Imperatives (SASI) methodology, incorporating plenary sessions, facilitated breakout sessions, innovation exercises, collaborative design workshops and executive alignment sessions.
By the end of the three-day event, organisers expect to produce a Benue 2035 Economic Transformation Platform, a prioritised investment portfolio, a capital formation roadmap, a wealth-creation and enterprise development framework, a human capital and digital innovation strategy, a coordinated implementation framework, and a 100-day action plan.
The documents will also identify institutional champions responsible for driving implementation.
According to the company, the ultimate goal was to build an economy where farmers earn more from their produce, businesses can grow, young people can transform skills and ideas into enterprises, investors can find credible opportunities and industries can expand.
Dr Asemakaha called on stakeholders to bring their ideas, expertise, capital, networks, and investment perspectives to the summit, stressing that transforming Benue’s economy would require collective ambition, strategic partnerships, innovation, human capital, and disciplined execution.
