Stakeholders renew push for livestock

He explained that the gap between potential and performance is most evident in productivity. “Milk yields from local cattle are less than 10 percent of global averages, while feed costs account for between 60 and 70 percent of total production expenses, leaving producers highly vulnerable to price shocks,” Ayuba said.

Ayuba added that the government has begun laying the groundwork for transformation through a mix of policy frameworks and targeted investments. He pointed to the National Livestock Master Plan, developed with support from the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), the International Livestock Research Institute and the Gates Foundation, as a comprehensive blueprint addressing systemic constraints from feed supply to animal health and market access.

He further highlighted the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy, which aims to scale the sector into a $74 billion to $90 billion industry by 2035 through partnerships involving state governments, private investors and international partners under a strengthened federal regulatory framework.

“Government alone cannot drive transformation of Nigeria’s livestock sector. The future depends on bold, private sector-led investment across the entire value chain—from feed to processing to market linkages,” he said.

Private Sector Engagement Expert ,AU-IBAR, Mohammed Eidie, explained that the Abuja forum was deliberately structured around business-to-business matchmaking, bringing pastoral producers and feedlot operators face-to-face with off-takers and financial institutions to generate concrete, bankable deals.

“We are here to do something different. The APMD Platform exists to ensure that market-driven transformation in pastoralism is not left to chance. What we are facilitating in Abuja is the infrastructure of trust—the handshakes and contracts that make a sector function.”

According to him, the platform is working across three pillars: strengthening private sector participation, improving policy environments and building robust data systems to support investment decisions, while integrating gender inclusion, youth employment, nutrition and climate resilience into its design.

“The outcomes we are targeting are specific and measurable—more supply agreements, new financing partnerships, and actionable policy reforms. When this works, it becomes a template that can be replicated across other pastoral economies in Africa,” he added.

The Policy Pillar Lead, APMD, Prof. Ahmed Elbeltagy, said the initiative is positioning Nigeria for stronger economic growth through deeper private sector participation and stronger market linkages.

“The livestock sector holds immense potential and offers significant growth opportunities. Private sector-driven transformation will enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness in regional and international markets while strengthening food security and reducing poverty,” he said.

The Managing Director ,ABAT CBD Limited, Raymond Olalekan Odulate, called for increased support for licensed abattoirs, describing them as the “critical bridge” connecting pastoralists to urban consumers. However, he warned that most facilities are unable to scale due to deep structural constraints.

“Supporting licensed abattoirs is not just about better buildings; it is about creating a safe, traceable and bankable market for thousands of pastoralists. Today, many of these facilities operate far below capacity and cannot attract private investment because the fundamentals are broken,” Odulate said.

He noted that, despite being licensed, abattoirs across the country grapple with unreliable electricity and water supply, forcing operators to depend on costly diesel generators that undermine cold chain systems required for hygienic meat processing. These challenges, he said, significantly raise operating costs and make it difficult to meet export-grade standards.

In her remarks, the Operations Manager at SCL Future Food Systems, Mrs. Evangeline Dan Yusuf, said the forum is coming at a critical time as the sector seeks reforms aimed at driving incentive-based capital investment through clear operational frameworks.

She emphasised that licensed abattoirs must be transformed into investment-ready hubs to unlock Nigeria’s livestock economy and strengthen pastoral market systems.

Meanwhile, a private-sector consortium is racing to certify facilities for international export, positioning the country’s 48.6 million-strong cattle herd—the largest on the continent—as the cornerstone of a new non-oil export corridor to the Gulf.

The promoters project revenues of $264 million in their inaugural full trading year, as five abattoirs across the country are brought to international export standards ahead of a crucial inspection by Saudi and international veterinary authorities later this year. The five facilities earmarked for the first export cohort—Abis Farm Market Limited and Halal Abattoirs Ltd, both in the FCT; Halal Modern Meat Processing Company in Nasarawa; Majestic Farm Ltd in Kano; and Ibadan Central Abattoir in Oyo State—have a combined installed capacity to process 420,000 cattle annually.

Operating at just 45 percent of that installed capacity, the consortium projects 35,532 metric tons of boneless red meat per annum, translating to roughly 2,961 metric tons monthly and an estimated national sales revenue of $264 million at a price of $7,500 per metric tonne. The Nigerian Meat Partnership (NiMeP) is the vehicle at the centre of this effort. “What we are building is not a one-off transaction. We are constructing an entire export architecture—from the calf born on a pastoral rangeland in the North to chilled boneless beef packed and loaded for Jeddah or Dubai. Nigeria has never done this in a structured, scalable way, and that is exactly what NiMeP changes,” Managing Partner at CDI/NiMeP, Roland Oroh, noted.