Abia State says it is now set to host the three-day 2026 AFRICANDO

U.S.–Africa Trade and Investment Conference/Expo from November 17 to 19 at the International Conference Center Umuahia, the state capital.

Many foreign investors, American businesses, African governments and international development institutions are expected to participate along with potential investors and business interests from the United States, Africa and other international markets, alongside Nigerian governments, diplomatic missions, financial institutions, multinational corporations, chambers of commerce and development partners.

Themed “Deepening U.S.–Africa Commercial Ties in the Era of AfCFTA,” the event is said to be designed to turn Abia into a marketplace for international capital, technology, products and business opportunities.

The Chief of Staff to the state Governor Alex Otti , Dr Caleb Ajagba, who is Chairman of the AFRICANDO 2026 Organising Committee, while announcing it to journalists at a press conference, informed that the event would be fundamentally different from conventional investment summits because its success would be judged by actual transactions and partnerships.

AFRICANDO 2026 he disclosed , will be measured not by the number of speeches delivered, but by the number and quality of partnerships, transactions, investments and market opportunities it produces.”, Dr Ajagba stated, adding that a major attraction of the conference will be the AFRICANDO Deal Room/Investment Marketplace, where bankable projects and investment opportunities from Abia and participating businesses will be presented directly to prospective investors.

According to him, the opportunities are expected to span manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing, energy, healthcare, technology, logistics, infrastructure, financial services, real estate and tourism, among other sectors.

The significance of the event, according to the organisers, lies in its timing as Africa moves towards deeper economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), creating a market of more than one billion people and expanding opportunities for production, investment and cross-border trade.

For Abia, Dr Ajagba posited that the conference offers an opportunity to place its industrial and entrepreneurial assets, particularly the Aba manufacturing ecosystem, directly before international investors and buyers.

” The ambition was to move from the familiar “Made in Aba” narrative to a broader “Made in Abia for the World” by linking local manufacturers and Small, Medium Enterprises ( SMEs) , with international capital, technology, quality standards, distribution networks and export markets”

He added that beyond exhibitions and speeches, “the programme will feature B2B meetings, business-to-government engagements, investor presentations, project pitching, sector workshops, policy dialogue, business matchmaking and site visits to strategic economic locations and enterprises in the state.”

Indicating that the expected international delegates will have the opportunity to see Abia’s productive capacity first-hand, rather than relying solely on presentations about the state’s investment potential, the Organizing Committee Chairman ( Ajagba ) further said that deliberately, the event was targeted at SMEs, startups, women-led enterprises and young entrepreneurs, towards exposing them to export requirements, international standards, digital commerce, intellectual property, access to finance and opportunities under AfCFTA.

In this regard, Nigerian and African diaspora were urged to convert their global networks, expertise and capital into structured investments and enterprise partnerships in the region.

Hosting AFRICANDO in Abia state, according to governor Otti’s Chief of Staff, was consistent with the state’s efforts to improve infrastructure, strengthen institutions and create an environment capable of attracting private capital.

” This conference would also demonstrate how a sub-national government could actively participate in international trade, investment promotion and economic diplomacy, with the

expected outcomes to include new investments, export opportunities for local businesses, market linkages for Aba manufacturers, technology and knowledge transfer, diaspora investments, commercial agreements and MoUs, as well as a pipeline of projects that can be tracked after the conference” it was so stated

AFRICANDO 2026 was therefore described as not only a conference, but a marketplace intended to connect capital with opportunities and transform international conversations into businesses, investments and opportunities including jobs.

Geometric Power, Nigeria’s foremost integrated power organization, has lauded the Abia State government for promoting private-public partnership as part of the strategy to accelerate the state’s rapid development.

The commendation is contained in a letter by the company’s leadership to Governor Alex Otti, Power and Utilities Commissioner Ikechukwu Monday, and Power and Utilities Special Adviser Katchi Etolue, according to a statement today by Edise Ekong, Brand and Communications Manager at Aba Power, a member of the Geometric Power group.

Edise says “the latest example of the state government’s promotion of collaboration with the private sector is its intervention in recent different negotiations” between Geometric Power and some other firms in the energy industry for uninterrupted power supply in the Aba Ring-fenced Area following gas supply outages that resulted in blackouts in the area.

Aba Ring-fenced Area comprises nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State.

“The governor”, declared Ekong, “intervened directly and many times in our negotiations with gas producers and suppliers to ensure constant supply, so that industries, social organizations like hospitals, laboratories and educational institutions, as well as households, markets and small and medium enterprises remain competitive for the benefit of all in Abia and beyond”.

Though Geometric Power signed a gas supply contract almost two decades ago with The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SDPC) which used to operate Oil Mining Licence (OML) 17 in Owaza in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State, it receives gas from Heirs Energies, a fast-growing indigenous oil and gas company that now operates the oil licence following the President Muhammadu Buhari’s decline to renew the Shell licence.

Given the ageing gas infrastructure which was built over half a century ago that has now created serious operational challenges, noted Ekong, Governor Otti has been encouraging Geometric Power to explore alternative sources of gas supply to its 188-megawatt plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout in Aba.

“Progress is being on this issue”, he said, but provided no details.

Continued the Aba Power manager: “As he was intervening in negotiations with gas suppliers, the governor was also getting constant briefings from his Commissioner for Power and public Utilities, Engineer Monday, and his Special Adviser on Power and Public Utilities, Engr Etolue, both sound professionals and dedicated public servants”.

Ekong, also an engineer, stated that Governor Otti demonstrated the same passion in Geometric Power’s discussions with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) in Abuja for his firm’s temporary use of power from the national grid during emergencies.

He revealed that Geometric Power has already paid in advance an undisclosed amount which he described as significant for supplies from the national grid “when there is a compelling need to draw electricity from this source”.

Commending the state administration for “practising public-private partnership in truth and spirit”, he commended “religious bodies, civil society organizations, industrialists, landlords, professionals, traders, communities, and other stakeholders in Aba and the environs for their understanding during the blackouts arising from a total lack of gas while the repair and rehabilitation of the antiquated gas infrastructure were on.

“Things are much better now, and we hope they will continue to get better”.

Geometric Power’s achievement of providing reliable power in the Aba Ring-fenced Area consisting of 9 of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State is significant, according to the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonny Baxter.

The deputy High Commissioner made the declaration today during a visit to the Geometric Power group, Nigeria’s only integrated power company that operates the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout of Aba and Aba Power, the country’s 12th distribution company (DisCo).

Mr. Baxter also praised the huge investment in the Aba Ring-fenced Area amounting to over $800m.

Accompanied by the Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Power and Public Utilities, Engr Kachi Etoluo, the diplomat declared: “What you have achieved here is impressive. It is an innovative approach, and it is clear that significant work, investment and commitment have gone building this project”.

The Aba Ring-fence is the only part of Nigeria not dependent on the national grid for electricity as it generates its own electricity from its own gas-fired turbines manufactured by General Electric (GE) of the United States, the world’s oldest and biggest electricity equipment producing firm, and distributes it within the territory.

Though all the electricity generated is currently consumed within the area, according to Cliff Eneh, a former senior engineer with the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) in Lagos who is now an energy consultant in Lagos, there are plans to export excess power to the national grid when a new turbine belonging to Geometric Power arrives from Houston, Texas, in the United States.

During the visit, the Geometric Power Group Managing Director, Mrs Agatha Nnaji, apprised Baxter of immense support and cooperation “that we have been receiving from the Abia State government in the finest spirit of public-private partnership”, asking other state governments to learn from it to enhance national development.

She, however, pointed some challenges facing Geometric Power, especially a lingering supply chain crisis.

Mrs Nnaji explained to the British diplomat that gas supply to the plant has not been as regular as it should be, ascribing interruptions to “the old age of the gas infrastructure built over 50 years ago”.

Engr Etolue, who led the Abia State’s team to the visit, assured the Geometric Power management of the governmentment’s “unrelenting support to you and other investors because partnerships are dear to Governor Otti and other people in the administration who are desirous of leapfrogging the state’s development”.

Baxter later toured the Geometric Plant and other facilities in the premises like the steel tubular poles, buried 10 metres in the ground and with 10 metres standing above the ground, to withstand natural disasters like like earthquakes.

“This is the only place you find this facility in West Africa, if not Africa”, Engr Livinus Nmaram, the learning and development director at Geometric Power, told Baxter.

“You can see them in world cities like San Francisco and Tokyo that are earthquake prone”.