USAID Nigeria Agribusiness Investment (NAI) Activity aimed to strengthen the business-enabling environment to promote private investments in the agriculture sector. JAA supported Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) in implementing the Activity, providing technical assistance and activity management through policy reforms. Using a collaborative and evidence-based methodology for policy development and implementation, JAA worked with public and private sector partners to develop 22 policies, which the national and state ministries approved and enacted. The JAA team and a group of Nigerian expert consultants helped the ministries develop implementation plans for eight policies.

JAA technical assistance led to the development of new Administrative Guidelines and Processes for the Registration of Cooperative Societies in Delta, Ebonyi, and Cross River States that have improved the efficiency of registration processes in those states, making it easier and cheaper for cooperatives to form and to access capital and other forms of support for their members. In Ebonyi State, JAA supported the integration of the cooperative registration subsystem into the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Business Development's existing loan portal. The digitization of the cooperative societies' registration process resulted in an efficient registration process and data management to facilitate growth and investment in the state's agricultural sector. The integration of both systems allowed 8,000 registered MSMEs access 1.6 billion NGN in grants through their cooperative societies.

JAA supported the Niger State's Ministry of Investment, Commerce, and Industry in the formulation of the new Niger State Sector Specific Investment Incentive Policy, developed to improve the investment climate and encourage private investments in the state. The policy reforms enabled Niger state to become eligible for the World Bank-funded Nigeria State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Program-for-results, which provides states with credit to implement reforms to improve the business-enabling environment. The ease of doing business ranking for the state also increased from 26th to 25th in 2023. The policy led to new investments in Niger state, building new infrastructure, creating new jobs, and increasing crop production.

The expertise and capabilities brought to the project by JAA served as the driving force behind the comprehensive series of reforms, including building the capacity to monitor the impact of policy changes, conducting in-depth policy analyses designed to invigorate Nigeria's agricultural and agribusiness-enabling environment across several value chains. These sweeping policy reforms were strategically aligned to propel the development of Sector-Specific Agribusiness Value Chains across seven pivotal states in Nigeria.

The NAI Activity was instrumental in unlocking over $244 million in financing and investments for 18,437 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with significant economic potential. The Activity has enhanced cooperation with governmental and non-governmental entities, establishing sustainable mechanisms for fostering dialogue between the public and private sectors through Public-Private Sector Dialogue (PPD) forums, creating a collaborative environment between governmental bodies and non-governmental economic entities to drive progress in Nigeria's agriculture and agribusiness sector.

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Duration: 2018 - 2023