By Sam Otuonye 

The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to collaborate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the private sector, and development partners to mobilise investment and create sustainable economic opportunities in communities affected by displacement across Nigeria.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, stated this during a meeting with the UNHCR team, led by its Representative in Nigeria, Mr Arjun Jain, to discuss the proposed Leadership Alliance for Enterprise, Acceleration and Prosperity (LEAP), an initiative to mobilise private investment for displacement-affected and fragile communities.

Senator Bagudu said the initiative was particularly relevant to Nigeria’s development priorities because displacement disrupts livelihoods, weakens local economies, and can deepen poverty if affected populations are not reintegrated into productive economic activity.

According to him, people forced to leave their communities because of insecurity or natural disasters often abandon farms, fishing grounds, livestock and other sources of livelihood, making the restoration of economic opportunities critical to sustainable reintegration.

He said: “Displacement, by its very nature, involves disruption. When people are forced to leave their communities, whether because of natural disasters or insecurity, their economic activities are automatically interrupted.”

The minister stressed that efforts to return displaced persons to their communities must be complemented by measures to restore livelihoods, address poverty and create opportunities for productive enterprise.

He said the LEAP initiative aligned with Nigeria’s long-term development aspirations, particularly the objective of building a more productive, inclusive and investment-driven economy.

“Our objective is therefore clear: the $1 trillion economy we aspire to build must be inclusive and create opportunities across communities,” he said.

Senator Bagudu noted that prolonged displacement could undermine family structures, social cohesion and economic productivity, and stressed that rehabilitation and reintegration ultimately require jobs and sustainable economic opportunities.

He recalled his experience as Governor of Kebbi State during a border delineation exercise with the Republic of Benin, following the implementation of a World Court judgment, in which some communities were relocated across the border.

The minister said the experience demonstrated that displacement was not merely a question of where people lived, but also of the quality and scale of the economic opportunities available to them.

He explained that a woman in one of the relocated communities had told him that the farms available to the men on the Nigerian side were significantly smaller, leaving them with limited productive work after returning from the farm.

Senator Bagudu said the Federal Government was therefore seeking to localise development planning and to gain a clearer understanding of the needs and opportunities across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards.

He said such an approach would help identify communities experiencing displacement, those hosting displaced populations, and the specific economic and infrastructure challenges they face.

According to him, both displaced and host communities can face significant pressure, making coordinated intervention involving the Federal, State and Local Governments, the private sector and development partners essential.

The minister described LEAP as a novel initiative aligned with the Ministry’s thinking on locally driven development and stressed the need to address the risks that deter private investment in vulnerable communities.

He noted that investors entering displacement-affected communities often face multiple challenges, including insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and disruption to the productive activities on which businesses depend.

Senator Bagudu said the government therefore had a role to play in developing practical de-risking mechanisms to encourage responsible private investment.

“If a private-sector player wants to invest in a community facing security or infrastructure challenges, it is legitimate for the government to use public resources to help de-risk that investment,” he said.

He identified security support, access roads and other critical infrastructure as areas where public intervention could unlock private investment, adding that the National Credit Guarantee Agency and insurance mechanisms should also be explored to reduce investment risks in vulnerable communities.

The minister further highlighted existing World Bank-supported programmes, including initiatives targeting internally displaced persons and resilience-building programmes such as NG-CARES and Nigeria for Women, as potential instruments to support private-sector partnerships and investment.

He urged stakeholders to adopt an approach that goes beyond an initial selection of 10 states, stressing that the objective should be to develop a model that can be replicated across Nigeria.

“Displacement and vulnerability are not confined to one part of Nigeria,” he said, noting that various forms of displacement, insecurity and historical community tensions affect access to land, investment and enterprise development across the country.

He said every state and every governor should be encouraged to explore ways to support a private-sector-led approach to investment in communities where security, infrastructure and other concerns may otherwise deter investors.

Senator Bagudu expressed the Ministry’s readiness to work with UNHCR and other partners to identify practical projects that could serve as proof of concept.

“We should perhaps identify three, four or five projects where we can work together and demonstrate what is possible,” he said.

He identified agriculture, including oil production, sugar, and other commodities, as areas with potential, while urging stakeholders to consider agricultural models suited to communities affected by insecurity.

Earlier, the UNHCR Representative in Nigeria, Mr Arjun Jain, said the organisation was seeking to move beyond traditional humanitarian assistance by promoting sustainable livelihoods, self-reliance and private-sector investment for displaced and host communities.

Jain said that UNHCR’s engagement with displaced communities had consistently shown that people wanted opportunities to rebuild their lives, particularly through employment and sustainable livelihoods.

He noted that Nigeria hosts millions of internally displaced persons, alongside refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries, creating an urgent need for solutions that go beyond short-term humanitarian support. UNHCR’s current operation in Nigeria likewise identifies more than 3.7 million internally displaced people and over 140,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the country. 

According to him, UNHCR has intensified its engagement with the private sector, state governments and development partners to develop practical economic solutions for communities affected by displacement.

He cited the organisation’s partnership with Tropical General Investments (TGI), which is expanding agricultural livelihood opportunities in Benue and Cross River States. 

In June 2026, UNHCR announced that the three-year partnership would support more than 5,000 farmers and create more than 10,000 jobs, with refugees, internally displaced persons and host communities among the intended beneficiaries.

Jain said the organisation was also exploring additional financing mechanisms with development finance institutions and commercial banks to provide affordable finance to farmers, displaced populations and other vulnerable communities.

He said that UNHCR was equally implementing community-based early-warning and early-response mechanisms to provide timely information on security developments and to facilitate responses by relevant authorities.

According to him, such systems could also help improve investors’ understanding of the actual conditions in communities often perceived as too risky for investment.

He explained that although certain areas may be broadly perceived as high-risk, conditions can vary significantly from one local government area or community to another, creating opportunities for more targeted, evidence-based investment decisions.

Jain said the proposed LEAP initiative was designed to build on these experiences by bringing government, private-sector investors, development finance institutions and development partners together.

He said the initiative aims to mobilise $10 billion in investment over five years across 10 states facing displacement and fragility.

According to him, achieving that ambition would require private companies to identify viable investment opportunities, development finance institutions to provide suitable financing, and governments and development partners to help address risks that could otherwise discourage investment.

He said UNHCR had already engaged institutions, including British International Investment and the International Finance Corporation, on the proposal, adding that the organisation was seeking a collaborative approach to reduce the risk exposure for individual investors and financiers.

“The only way we can succeed is to bring everyone around the table,” Jain said.