Nigeria is moving forward with plans to develop a $900 million integrated poultry sector in collaboration with Chinese partners, according to Joseph Tegbe, the official overseeing international relations for the Nigeria-China strategic partnership.
The proposal, reported by BusinessDay on March 25, is designed to increase local egg and poultry meat production, close the country’s animal protein gap, and improve overall food security.
The initiative involves building six large-scale, fully integrated poultry farms across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Each facility is expected to produce about 1 million eggs daily, bringing total national output from the project to 6 million eggs per day.
Tegbe explained, “By the time we have six million eggs a day, each one is supposed to have one million laying hens and 300,000 broilers. Each one of those poultry farms is supposed to have its power generating plant. It’s supposed to have its abattoir, have its hatchery. Each of those poultry farms has backward integration. Because we don’t want to set up a poultry farm and go out and import feedstock.”
To support feed production, every farm will be linked to a 10,000-hectare agricultural estate focused on growing maize and soya, which are essential inputs for poultry feed, as seen on Ecofin Agency.
Each poultry project is estimated to cost around $150 million and will be financed through a hybrid structure. The Nigerian government will fully fund the first two farms, while the remaining four will operate under a co-financing model in which Chinese investors contribute 85% of the funding and the government provides the remaining share.
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Tegbe stated, “So in the first phase, we are funding fully. […] The intention is that once we take advantage of the dry season to start the construction work. But after that, the next phase, which is the counterpart funding basis, Chinese bring in funding. And this funding they are bringing in is for 10 years, 3 years moratorium.” He also noted that there are plans to eventually hand over operations to private Nigerian operators.
No official timeline has been given for the start of construction, but if completed, the project could significantly boost Nigeria’s domestic poultry capacity.
Currently, the country produces about 700,000 tonnes of poultry meat and 650,000 tonnes of eggs annually, based on data from the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS).
Although Nigeria banned chicken imports in 2003, smuggling continues due to supply shortages. Singapore-based agribusiness firm Olam Agri estimates that illegal poultry imports into the country are valued between $150 million and $200 million each year.
The sector still faces several challenges, including high feed costs driven by maize and soya supply, ongoing biosecurity threats, disease risks, and limited financing options for smaller producers.
As of 2024, Nigeria’s chicken population was estimated at nearly 809.8 million birds, making it the largest livestock category in the country, according to NAERLS.
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Image Credit: Nairametrics
