UNHCR, TGI partner to empower displaced communities

Tropical General Investments Group has signed a five-year cooperation agreement with the UN Refugee Agency to advance socio-economic inclusion and create sustainable solutions for displaced persons and their host communities in Nigeria.

TGI sealed the partnership with the UNHCR recently after signing a Memorandum of Understanding in Abuja.

According to a statement, the partnership between the organisations aims to provide targeted solutions that enable displaced populations to engage in agricultural income-generating activities.

According to the Vice Chairman of TGI Group, Farouk Gumel, the partnership with UNHCR will see the integration of internally displaced persons and refugees into the forefront of Nigeria’s workforce.

“We believe in inclusive growth and community empowerment, and we will leverage our work with smallholder farmers in our out-grower programmes as a model to integrate these communities,” Gumel said.

According to the group, Nigeria boasts an arable land area of 34 million hectares, of which only 6.5 million hectares are currently used for permanent crops, showing an underusage of the agricultural sector’s opportunity for economic growth.

The UNHCR’s Representative to Nigeria, Arjun Jain, highlighted the importance of the partnership in promoting self-reliance among refugees and IDPs.

According to Jain, Nigeria is home to 3.6 million IDPs and 108,000 refugees and one of the key priorities of the partnership is to create self-reliance opportunities for refugees and IDPs.

“This partnership with TGI is central to our collaborative approach, aiming for sustainable solutions and reducing dependence on humanitarian assistance,” he stated.

The partnership will focus on various initiatives, including value chain integration, land recovery, agricultural inputs, skills development, employment, and financial inclusion, the partners noted.

By working closely with government authorities, development actors, and community leaders, TGI and UNHCR said they aimed to facilitate large-scale agricultural projects and other economic initiatives that foster stronger connections between displaced communities and state services.

According to TGI Group, globally, there are approximately 120 million people forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, and climate change and Nigeria alone hosts over 3.7 million of these displaced individuals, making up almost 3 per cent of the global displaced population.

“Most IDPs in Nigeria have been living in the middle-belt, northeast and northwest of the country for over a decade, within states that face grave economic challenges. Some 70 per cent of the refugees in the country live within the host community, with the rest residing in settlements,” it added.