From Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The Yobe State Government has showcased its investment and development agenda at the 2026 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), seeking strategic partnerships and international investment opportunities across key sectors of the state’s economy.
According to a statement signed by the Director-General, Press and Media Affairs to the Governor, Mamman Muhammad, Governor Mai Mala Buni, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Mohammed Goje, said the mission was aimed at attracting investments in agriculture, renewable energy, mining, healthcare and youth development.
Buni said the engagement provided an opportunity to showcase Yobe’s natural resources, strategic location and youthful population, with a view to transforming them into productive opportunities that would create employment and promote sustainable prosperity.
He highlighted the state’s approximately 1.6 million hectares of arable land, livestock resources, sesame and gum arabic deposits, as well as its strategic proximity to Niger, Chad and the wider Sahelian market.
The governor said the state was also presenting opportunities in soybean production, four completed sesame processing factories and a modern livestock hub, alongside efforts to formalise and expand economic activities around livestock markets in Potiskum, Buni, Geidam, Garin Alkali and other locations.
“These opportunities are being promoted through a legal framework of structured public-private partnership arrangements under the Yobe State Public-Private Partnership Law 2023, with the Yobe State Agency for Public-Private Partnership and Investment Promotion serving as the investors’ coordinating window,” Buni said.
At the Unstoppable Africa Forum, the state delegation engaged African industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on potential areas of partnership, including investment in productive assets and professionally managed portfolios to generate sustainable income for widows, women and victims of conflict.
Buni said the initiative was part of the government’s commitment to move citizens beyond short-term interventions towards sustainable economic independence and long-term financial resilience.
The delegation also engaged the United Nations Youth Office on opportunities to connect young people with funding, internships, professional networks, technology and practical platforms capable of creating meaningful opportunities within their communities.
The engagement also opened discussions on Yobe’s possible participation in a United Nations Youth Town Hall scheduled to hold in Heidelberg, Germany, as well as a proposed youth development boot camp focused on investment opportunities in education, skills development, enterprise and youth inclusion.
Health Sovereignty, Peace, Youth Participation
The Dr Goje-led delegation also participated in the Accra Reset launch of A Sovereign Future for Health, alongside prominent African leaders, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.
The high-level engagement focused on African ownership of health systems, domestic financing and stronger institutional capacity.
The state government said the objectives align with Governor Buni’s investments in healthcare infrastructure, service expansion, workforce development and efforts to strengthen Yobe’s health system following years of insurgency.
At the African Union-European Union dialogue on Youth, Peace and Security, the Yobe delegation also contributed to discussions on the Bujumbura Outcomes, generational leadership and meaningful youth participation in peacebuilding and governance.