Policy continuity key to investment – Shettima
The Nasarawa Investment Summit 2026 opened on Wednesday in Lafia with a strong focus on institutionalising reforms. Governor Abdullahi Sule and Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasised the need for policy continuity beyond the 2027 political transition. The two-day summit, themed ‘Bold Transitions, Building a Legacy for a Sustainable Future’, is the third edition since the […]
The Nasarawa Investment Summit 2026 opened on Wednesday in Lafia with a strong focus on institutionalising reforms.
Governor Abdullahi Sule and Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasised the need for policy continuity beyond the 2027 political transition.
The two-day summit, themed ‘Bold Transitions, Building a Legacy for a Sustainable Future’, is the third edition since the initiative began in 2022.
It comes as the Nasarawa Investment Development Agency, NASIDA, reported over $2 billion in investment inflows and the creation of more than 50,000 jobs in the past seven years.
Representing the Federal Government, Vice President Shettima commended Nasarawa for becoming a meeting point for investors, policymakers and development partners.
Shettima linked Nasarawa’s progress to President Bola Tinubu’s national economic reforms, noting that Nigeria had moved from the edge of a fiscal trap in 2023 to recording GDP growth of 3.87% in 2025, a fiscal deficit narrowed to 3.0% of GDP, and a balance of payments surplus of $6.83 billion.
Net foreign exchange reserves, he said, rose from $3.99 billion at the end of 2023 to over $46 billion in 2025.
He praised Nasarawa’s establishment of NASIDA, the One-Stop Investment Centre, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nasarawa Infrastructure Park as a “durable architecture for prosperity,” and said federal projects like the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline would complement the state’s Gas Master Plan.
Governor Abdullahi Sule of the state said the 2026 summit marks the final investment forum under his administration and represents a defining moment for the state’s economic trajectory.
He described it as “a strategic platform to consolidate on the existing gains and chart a pathway for the next phase of economic transformation.”
Sule recalled that the 2022 Diamond in the Rough edition introduced Nasarawa’s natural resources and proximity to Abuja to investors, while the 2024 Industrial Renaissance shifted focus to agriculture, mining, manufacturing and infrastructure.
The current edition, he said, is designed to protect and embed reforms in durable institutions so that progress endures beyond individual administrations.
A highlight of the summit was the launch of the ‘Lafia Declaration’, a voluntary commitment by political parties, the legislature, judiciary, development partners and investors to sustain Nasarawa’s economic reform trajectory beyond 2027.
The Governor said the declaration assures investors that their commitments will remain safe regardless of who succeeds him.