A Nigerian agro-development company, JR Farms Group, has signed a $60 million public-private partnership agreement with the Government of Liberia to revive that country's coffee industry, expand exports and create jobs. The 20-year concession was signed in Monrovia by Liberia's Minister of Agriculture, Dr J. Alexander Nuetah, and the Founder and Group Chief Executive of JR Farms Group, Olawale Rotimi Oyeyemi, according to Punch.
The Scale of the Plan
Under the long-term arrangement, more than 250,000 hectares of coffee plantations will be developed and at least 200 million coffee trees planted over two decades, benefiting over 200,000 farmers and generating an estimated 300,000 direct and indirect jobs, as BusinessDay reported. JR Farms will oversee operations across the major coffee-producing counties of Nimba, Lofa and Bong, with the commercial law firm EandC Legal acting as lead transaction counsel.
Why Coffee, Why Now
Liberia is historically recognised as the origin of the Liberica coffee variety, and Oyeyemi said the country's heritage and agroecological conditions position it for long-term growth in production and exports, according to The Independent. The deal aligns with Liberia's National Agriculture Development Plan, which targets 15,000 hectares of new coffee farms within five years. As the AgroNigeria report noted, the agreement, valued at about ₦81.6 billion, ranks among the largest recent private commitments to Liberia's coffee sector and deepens agricultural ties between the two countries.
The deal signals the growing reach of Nigerian agribusiness across West Africa. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail food prices across Lagos markets, and cross-border investments like this one shape the wider regional food economy that Nigerian households sit within.