How Nigeria’s Agripreneurs Are Building the Next Oil

For many years, Nigeria depended heavily on crude oil to grow its economy. This did not end well. Oil prices fluctuated, the naira lost value, and farming was ignored, even though Nigeria was once a top exporter of groundnuts, palm oil, cocoa, and cotton. 

Now, things are changing. A new generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs is returning to agriculture, but not to farm for survival. They are building real businesses, using technology, thinking big, and selling to the world.

WHY AGRIBUSINESS IS HAVING ITS MOMENT

Several forces are converging to make Nigerian agribusiness attractive to entrepreneurs and investors alike. The devaluation of the naira has made locally produced goods more competitive on the export market. The federal government’s sustained push to diversify revenue away from oil has opened regulatory and financing pathways for agricultural businesses.

And a growing global demand for African agricultural products, particularly cocoa, sesame, cassava derivatives, and cashew, is creating market opportunities that did not exist a generation ago.

At the same time, a new generation of educated, tech-savvy Nigerians is entering the agricultural space with fresh eyes. They are bringing digital tools, supply chain thinking, and investor relations skills to an industry long dominated by smallholder farmers and unorganised middlemen.

TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING THE GAME

Agritech is one of the fastest-growing startup categories in Nigeria. Platforms like Farmcrowdy, ThriveAgric, and AgroMall are connecting smallholder farmers to financing, inputs, and markets. Drone technology is being used for crop monitoring and spraying. Mobile-based extension services are giving farmers access to agronomic advice that was previously unavailable to them.

Cold chain logistics startups are tackling one of the biggest causes of food loss in Nigeria: between 40% and 50% of fruits and vegetables spoil before reaching consumers. Solving this problem creates value across the entire food system.

CASSAVA, COCOA, AND RICE: THE HIGH-VALUE OPPORTUNITY CROPS

Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, yet most of it is consumed domestically in its most basic form. Entrepreneurs who can process cassava into high-value derivatives, starch, flour, ethanol, glucose syrup, are building businesses with genuine export potential.

Similarly, Nigeria’s cocoa sector, centred in Ondo, Ogun, and Cross River states, is producing cocoa beans largely exported in raw form. Entrepreneurs who can add processing and move up the value chain stand to capture significantly higher margins.

The government’s rice self-sufficiency drive has also created a generation of rice mill entrepreneurs who are building businesses around local milling, branding, and distribution.

WHAT INVESTORS ARE WATCHING

Agribusiness in Nigeria is attracting both local and foreign investment. Impact investors, development finance institutions, and private equity funds are increasingly looking at agricultural value chains as a way to generate returns while driving food security and rural development. For entrepreneurs in this space, the ability to demonstrate traceability, food safety compliance, and export readiness is increasingly important in accessing this capital.

Nigeria’s agricultural sector has the land, the labour, the crops, and increasingly the talent to become a genuine engine of economic growth. The entrepreneurs who are building today may well be the oil companies of the next generation.