- AAREDS, holding on February 7, 2026, in Lagos, is positioned as a policy-shaping, market-correcting intervention aimed at combating fraudulent agroinvestment schemes, restoring trust, and advancing structured, regulated, and bankable agroreal estate development across Africa.
- The summit convenes top policymakers, investors, traditional rulers, researchers, and industry leaders, including members of the National Assembly, state commissioners, REDAN leadership, major agribusiness CEOs, and global investment executives, to address land governance, institutional collaboration, investor protection, and integrated agrosmart city development.
- With a focus on food security, youth employment, climate resilience, and responsible landuse, AAREDS declares the end of unstructured agrorealestate practices and the beginning of a new era defined by transparency, legitimacy, scalable development models, and public-private partnership—marking February 7, 2026 as a potential turning point in Africa’s land-based economic future.
By the time Africa secures its food future, restores industry confidence, and turns idle land into productive national infrastructure, history may trace the inflection point back to Lagos, Saturday, 7th February 2026.
Across Africa, agricultural land has become both a promise and a paradox.
It holds the key to food security, youth employment, housing, climate resilience, and foreign capital inflows, yet it has also become a playground for unregulated schemes, speculative actors, and fraudulent investments eroding public trust at scale.
This tension sits at the heart of Africa’s most urgent question today: How do we transform land into a structured, bankable, and productive asset, without sacrificing credibility, governance, or national interest?
The African Agro-Real Estate Development Summit (AAREDS) is being convened to confront this question head-on.
Scheduled to hold at the Balmoral Hall, Sheraton Lagos, AAREDS is not another conference. It is a market-correcting intervention, advocating for structured agro real estate development saying no to fraudulent agro investment, a collaboration with institutions, private and public for agro real estate development, Supporting the federal governments drive for food security, house and productive youth engagement via sustainable integrated communities with the agro smart city development, and a policy-shaping platform.
Africa is standing on a fragile edge, and the fault line is land. Across the continent, agricultural land has become the most powerful promise of economic renewal and, at the same time, one of its most abused assets.
It is being sold as prosperity, marketed as food security, and promoted as a gateway to wealth, yet behind the glossy narratives sits a growing credibility crisis. Poorly structured agro-investment schemes, speculative land banking, and outright fraudulent models are eroding investor confidence and distorting what should be one of Africa’s most strategic economic sectors.
In this atmosphere of uncertainty, trust is thinning, institutions are hesitant, diaspora capital is cautious, and the very idea of agro real estate risks being undermined before it fully matures. It is into this moment of urgency, risk, and opportunity that the African Agro-Real Estate Development Summit (AAREDS) is stepping forward.
A Summit Built Around Advocacy, Policy, And Execution
The summit is designed as a high-level industry forum addressing how agricultural land development can be structured, regulated, financed, and scaled responsibly across Africa.
Key policy conversations at AAREDS will include insights from Rt. Hon. Bello Kaoje, Chairman of the House Committee on Agricultural Production & Services, whose legislative oversight plays a central role in shaping Nigeria’s agricultural development framework.
He will be joined by Hon. Abisola Olusanya, Commissioner for Agriculture & Food Systems in Lagos State, and Engr. Olaleye Akinola, Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture & Forestry in Ondo State, both of whom are actively involved in state-level agricultural transformation and land-use strategy.
International investment perspectives will be shaped by Mr. Nick Spysznyk, CEO of BEM Group (UK), alongside Nigerian private sector leaders such as Rotimi Ojamamoye, Group Managing Director of Assetrise Limited, and Emmanuel Akintoye, President of BRG, who are actively engaged in land development, agribusiness structuring, and investment-led agricultural models.
Traditional Institutions, Market Legitimacy, and Land Governance
Recognizing the central role of traditional institutions in land administration, AAREDS will also incorporate leadership perspectives from Oba Olufolarin Olukoyode, the Alara of Ilara, to highlight the importance of aligning customary land ownership with modern agro-real estate frameworks.
From an industry-wide coordination standpoint, HRM Akintoye Adeoye, President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), and Hon. Waliu Olayiwola Taiwo, Chairman of the Ogun State Agricultural Development Corporation, will contribute to discussions around regulatory structure, developer accountability, and sustainable land-use planning.
https://youtu.be/w0Lr3MVZixU?si=KeI6iaiNVJzqyKVp
Calling Out Fraud Without Apology
Perhaps the most defining posture of AAREDS is its unflinching stance against fraudulent agro investment schemes. At a time when many platforms avoid the topic, AAREDS confronts it directly.
Sessions anchored by regulatory veterans like Mrs. Mary Uduk, former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will address, Investor protection frameworks, Minimum standards for agro real estate legitimacy, Due diligence benchmarks, And governance structures required to protect capital. By doing so, AAREDS positions itself not just as a summit, but as a market stabiliser.
Institutional Capital and Public–Private Collaboration
Institutional and enterprise participation will be reinforced by contributions from Prof. Olusola Kehinde, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Dr Isona Leonard Gold CEO National Institute For Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Dr Adedeji Abiodun Raheed, Executive Directon of Cocoa Research Institute (CRIN), Ola Olajumoke, General Manager, Lagos State Cococnut Development Authority (LASCODA) emphasizing the role of research, innovation, and skills development in agro-based real assets.
Financial and institutional perspectives will also be represented by Mr. Ngozi Anyogu, GMD/CEO of AG Mortgage Bank, and Mr. Abubakar Lawal, GMD/CEO of GTI Group, both of whom bring critical insights into financing structures, mortgage-backed land development, and long-term capital deployment.
Agro Smart Cities: Vision, Scale, And Reality
Beyond policy and advocacy, AAREDS interrogates execution. What does it truly take to build 100,000 hectare agro smart city that integrate housing, farming, processing, youth employment, and export value chains
Why The Africa Should Pay Attention
AAREDS is not only relevant to Nigeria. It speaks to, developers, agribusiness operators, institutional investors, policymakers, and land-owning stakeholders seeking clarity, legitimacy, and structured opportunities in Africa’s evolving agro real estate sector.
In an era defined by climate uncertainty, economic pressure, and rising global competition for capital, Africa cannot afford to mismanage its most valuable resource. Land must work harder, smarter, and more transparently for the continent. AAREDS is a declaration that the age of unstructured agro real estate is ending, and a new chapter, defined by policy coherence, institutional trust, and sustainable scale, is about to begin. The question is no longer whether agro real estate will shape Africa’s future, but whether it will be shaped responsibly. February 7, 2026, may well be remembered as the moment that answer began to take form.
