Origin Tech Group has launched a new agricultural investment vehicle, Corporate Farm, aimed at mobilising private and institutional capital into large-scale farming operations across Nigeria.
The initiative, unveiled in Lagos, seeks to address long-standing structural challenges in the agricultural sector, which the company’s Executive Chairman, Samuel Johnson Samuel, said have historically eroded investor confidence despite the country’s vast agricultural potential.
Speaking at the launch, the Executive Chairman of Origin Tech Group Nigeria, Prince Samuel Joseph Samuel, described the Corporate Farm model as a practical solution aimed at reducing the risks associated with agricultural investment and encouraging stronger private sector participation in the sector.
He explained that while banks have the capital needed to transform agriculture, many financial institutions have historically suffered losses when funding agricultural projects, making them cautious about investing in the sector.
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To address this challenge, he said the Corporate Farm initiative was created as a structured platform that allows investors to participate in agriculture with reduced risk. The model focuses on large-scale commercial farming operations, requiring a minimum of 1,000 hectares for crop production and about 250,000 birds for poultry operations.
Under the structure, investors provide a portion of the equity while banks and financial institutions contribute funding, with Origin Tech providing operational expertise and support. The company will manage key aspects of farm development, including land clearing, planting and farm operations during the first two production cycles, to ensure farms achieve targeted yields and operational stability before transitioning to the farm owner’s management team.
Samuel explained that the model also incorporates risk-mitigation mechanisms such as insurance coverage for environmental risks and guaranteed market access through structured off-take arrangements. One of the key components of the system is Borg Food, an off-take company capable of purchasing large volumes of agricultural produce. Through this arrangement, farmers participating in the Corporate Farm initiative are assured of a market for their harvest, addressing one of the biggest uncertainties in farming.
He also highlighted the broader agricultural infrastructure projects being developed by Origin Tech Group to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural value chain. Among these is a major food logistics hub currently under development in Lagos, which is expected to become the largest of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Samuel, Lagos remains the largest food market in Nigeria, yet a significant portion of food entering the state is lost due to poor storage and transportation systems. The logistics hub is therefore expected to significantly reduce post-harvest losses while improving food distribution across the state and the country.
He added that the Corporate Farm initiative forms part of a broader agricultural ecosystem that includes projects such as EcoLog, a cold-chain logistics system designed to improve the transportation and preservation of agricultural produce.
Also speaking at the event, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, described the initiative as an important step toward transforming Nigeria’s agricultural landscape and achieving food security.
Olusanya commended the leadership of Origin Tech Group for its continued commitment to innovation in agriculture and for encouraging investment in a sector that many stakeholders have traditionally approached with caution.
She noted that the initiative aligns with national priorities around food security, adding that the current administration has placed agriculture at the centre of its economic agenda.
According to the Commissioner, Nigeria’s agricultural sector must evolve from the traditional smallholder model toward larger and more structured commercial farming operations capable of producing food at scale.
Head of Agribusiness at Stanbic IBTC, Wole Oshin, also spoke about the wealth-creation potential of agriculture when properly structured and supported with the right infrastructure.
He shared an experience from the NAMPO agricultural exhibition in South Africa, one of the largest agricultural events in Sub-Saharan Africa, where he observed helicopters and private jets arriving at the venue. Initially, he assumed they were part of official security arrangements but later discovered they actually belonged to farmers attending the event.
The experience, he said, demonstrated the scale and economic power that agriculture can achieve when supported by strong systems and investments. Oshin noted that Nigeria has the capacity to reach similar levels of agricultural prosperity if the sector is properly organised and supported by efficient logistics and financing systems.
He emphasised that the agricultural value chain is only complete when food successfully reaches consumers, stressing the importance of logistics systems in reducing food losses and improving food distribution.
Also addressing participants, Executive Director of Retail Banking, South Division, Oluseyi Oyefeso, highlighted the importance of agriculture to national stability and economic development. He noted that with a population of over 200 million people, ensuring food availability remains a critical national priority.
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Oyefeso acknowledged that banks have historically faced challenges when funding agricultural ventures, which has made many financial institutions cautious about investing in the sector. However, he noted that structured initiatives such as the Corporate Farm model could help rebuild confidence in agricultural financing.
According to him, coordinated systems that integrate production, logistics, aggregation and market access significantly reduce many of the uncertainties that have previously discouraged banks from supporting agricultural projects.
He also emphasised the importance of organising farmers into clusters or cooperatives, noting that such structures improve efficiency and make it easier to manage equipment, logistics, storage and financing.
