Secretary of the Niger Delta Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA), Dr. Solomon Edebiri, has indicated the readiness of his body to be among the first to key into China’s new zero-tariff policy for African goods.

He revealed this in an exclusive interview with ACE Magazine in Port Harcourt.

Our discussion with him was a part of the global sensitization in readiness for the NDCCITMA economic and investment summit that will be held in May.

While outlining a chain of plans and targets for the event, Edebiri said the target is to immediately reap the benefits of the new policy to produce and export to China.

According to him, with the right environment, the nine states of this region, known for oil and gas, the Chinese investors who have been major partners for Nigerian industrial growth and innovation have better conditions to set up manufacturing, services, technology hubs, educational and research and development initiatives in the region, and move their products to the global market.

To China, such exports would be tariff-free, and to other world markets, the incentives provided by the free trade zone status of the regions will also guarantee benefits to investors and general economic growth.

What are the specific areas you need investment in the Niger Delta?

Simply put, we need investments in every aspect of the economy. We are ready for that. The summit aims to showcase to the world that the Niger Delta is ready for investors and ready to receive willing partners from all over the world, and in all sectors. We want the world to know that there is peace and security in the Niger Delta, and the people of the region are hospitable and bid the world to come here and do business.

However, there are so many sectors that the world and Nigerians outside the region can find investment space in.

I will start with transportation, which includes rural and urban mobility of the people and their economic activities, including the mobility of their goods and services.

The environment is ripe for urban-rural integration into a mobility that would ensure the movement of farm produce and output from the farm regions to the urban markets and the movement of tech equipment to the farms for modernized practices.

In another sector, such as air transportation, the region lags and needs to wake up. For instance, you can’t get a flight from Ondo to Calabar, Benin to Owerri, or Uyo to Warri. If you need air transportation within the region, you will need to fly out to Abuja or Lagos before finding your way back. This takes more time and money. This lack of connectivity hinders economic growth and advancement, and there should be a way out of it for growth.

Again, the Niger Delta is chained together by a vast ocean coastline. It is the geopolitical zone with the longest coastline in Nigeria. We need to develop marine business around that, and also maritime transportation. A sea transportation route covering this stretch of water is a good and viable business, an entirely separate industry.

In agriculture, we have the potential for every aspect of farming from cropping to aquaculture, animal husbandry and more. We need investors from all over the world to express interest in this sector. With the agricultural capacity of our region, it is not acceptable that Nigeria imports food when we have what it takes to guarantee the country’s food security. With modern technology, the right skills, and funding, the Niger Delta region will feed the country and beyond. Beyond farming, we are looking at equipment manufacturing and production in the region.

Greenhouse farming, which is the most efficient in land and space economy and management method, will thrive in the Niger Delta and employ hands. This country still relies on importation to procure poultry, and our agro-business can bridge that gap and ensure that our reliance on importation would be drastically reduced in the first two to four years of optimal operation. From our original proposal, we are looking at a project that will, in its totality, generate not less than 500,000 direct jobs across the states and industries. Even if other parts of Nigeria are reluctant to go into full-scale ranching, we will show the way with our plans.

How many states and what volume of market is the Niger Delta to guarantee this extent of massive investment you discuss?

Niger Delta states are nine, a very large and, in fact, the largest economic cluster in Nigeria and West Africa. That is the region that produces all the oil and gas that powers the Nigerian economy. It is also a market of at least 42 million people. That is way more than many prominent countries that propel the global economy. So, with this large market, nine state governments, many of which have done so much to provide infrastructure and security to engender growth, we are sure that what it takes to actualise our dream is there. The region, which possesses about 8% of the country’s landmass and the longest coastal area, has all the advantages. Don’t forget that there are three functional seaports in the region and two that are still being developed. So, all it takes to encourage investors is to be there for the take.

Beyond oil and gas, we are known for, we also have solid minerals, including silicon from the seashore, which is excellent for glass and ceramic production. We have goals, iron ore, lead, and many more waiting for investors to tap into.

The housing development sector is also booming. Because the industry is thriving already, it is wise to invest in more housing development and also produce building materials from iron to roofing sheets, ceramics, sanitary wares, plumbing materials, accessories, and all others.

There are thousands of primary and secondary schools in the region and over 42 tertiary institutions, so education as a sector is a profitable industry to invest in. This can be in setting up schools and industries that produce for the education sector.

From May 1, China’s zero-tariff policy for all goods from Africa, not excluding Nigeria, would kick off. Do you see any window for your Niger Delta economic project benefiting from this and giving the Chinese investors space?

We are well aware of this generous policy that will encourage manufacturing in Africa and Nigeria, and I see the gains for Chinese investors coming to the Niger Delta and producing their goods and exporting to China to benefit from the policy. This is an open door, and we welcome Chinese investors. Before now, they have been the largest pool of foreign investors in Nigeria and Africa in almost every sector. We look forward to welcoming them as old allies in the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

They can produce food, building materials, ICT products, etc. Most of all, the cost of production here, including labour, is cheaper in the Niger Delta than in China or most of the African countries they venture into. In the provision of labour, we are most competitive with a large, skilled, youthful population ready to be engaged. Every factor of production is available, and we have free trade zones already in place where more and better incentives exist for the investors. These would make the cost of goods produced here quite competitive in the African and global markets. We welcome the Chinese investors so warmly. We are waiting for them to come so that we can grow together with a higher profit margin for the operations assured within our region.

Even in infrastructure, we welcome the Chinese in road, railway, aviation, and other infrastructure provisions. They have played a wonderful role in the past years in various parts of Nigeria, especially in the railway, roads, and seaports, and we want them to come to the Niger Delta. Our doors are open to negotiate credit facilities and funding between our region and the Chinese credit market, working with the federal government as guarantor.

We have seen what impact they have already made, even in some states of the region where they work for separate states. This time, we focus on region-wide business.

The digital content moves the global economy today. Do you have any place for such in your proposals for investors?

Sure. What can we do without inculcating the digital component into the economy? We want investors in fintech, in tech hubs, data centres, science parks, and creative innovations.

Chinese tech has been the backbone of Nigeria’s digital economy, with companies like Huawei Technologies playing a prominent role in the field – providing data centres and hubs, partnering with universities and providing cloud services to our banks, powering the most influential fintech, and many others using Chinese tech infrastructure. Most of the infrastructure that drives our telecom is from Chinese companies and producers, including the ubiquitous Chinese smartphones that make up 53% of the market share in Nigeria. We warmly welcome them to the region to create science parks that encourage an innovation explosion.

Even in the energy sector, we are ready and open for solar and renewable energy growth and development. Investors from China and of course, other parts of the world have the space here to thrive and help us thrive alongside them.

We have already acquired over 200 hectares of land near Omoku for science parks and innovation developments, with a gas station of more than 250kw generation located close by. The facility is strategically located at a point that is 40km from Imo, Abia, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa states. It is deliberate to provide the right and effective services to the region unimpeded. That environment is most suitable for such an investment. We intend to have research centers, manufacturing centers, innovation centers, and skills development facilities around there. We intend that this region will be a creativity centre where experts can sit down in their facilities and carry out in-depth research and development, product creation, and manufacturing. Tech products and equipment don’t just happen. They are thought out, created, designed, developed, and manufactured. Such incubation points enrich patents and new dimensions to industrialisation. Within here, we will have standard world-class ICT centres and production plants for gadgets and tech products such as smartphones, wearables, consoles, laptops, desktops, etc. We are completely ready for the world, China inclusive.

Don’t forget that I already explained the potential of the region in maritime, and with China dominating in maritime technology throughout the value chain. From Chinese government data, in 2025, the country controlled global shipbuilding with 56.1% market share of completed ships, and it received 69% of global orders. It maintained the same dominance in all the affiliated sectors of shipbuilding, maritime equipment, and facility manufacturing. These completely rely on tech, and we are eager to have them come to the Niger Delta to do the same wonders they are globally known for. Such facilities can also look beyond production to set up facilities for ship maintenance, which will serve not just Nigeria, but most African countries from where ships are taken outside the continent for maintenance. As they come, we vouch for the security of their investments.