THE North East Development Commission (NEDC) has announced its new investments plan for the region for accelerated development and recovery.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission, Mohammed Alkali, made this known at a media briefing yesterday in Abuja.

He said the new plan includes a 50 megawatt power project, a proposed North-East railway and an additional N100 billion earmarked for roads and bridges, as part of efforts to accelerate development across the six states of the region.

He described them as part of the Commission’s mandate under the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Alkali said the Governing Board’s decisions marked “another defining milestone in the transformation of the North-East,” noting that the Commission had moved from an initial stabilisation and recovery phase into a renewal phase involving broader investment in infrastructure, energy and social services.

On the power project, Alkali said the 50MW scheme was “not an isolated energy project” but a strategic catalyst intended to supply electricity to homes, schools, health facilities, markets, industrial parks and small businesses across the region.”

He added that the initiative was expected to lower business costs, boost agro processing and support Nigeria’s broader clean energy transition by reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

On connectivity, the Commission said it was advancing plans for a North-East Railway, which it described as a means of strengthening regional integration, cutting logistics costs and positioning the region as a trade corridor linking Nigeria with neighbouring countries.

A regional airline was also proposed to improve business travel, tourism, cargo movement and emergency response.

He explained that the Governing Board additionally approved N100 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of strategic roads and bridges, building on what the Commission said was a track record of delivering more than 300 kilometres of roads and over 50 bridges in the North-East.

The MD explained that the new roads programme was designed to reduce transport costs, improve access to healthcare and education, and encourage private investment.

Alkali said the various interventions were designed to work together rather than in isolation, linking energy, transport and infrastructure investments to wider goals of economic growth and regional stability.

He described the projects collectively as “catalysts for change, growth and development” intended to improve livelihoods and unlock the region’s economic potential.

“The North-East is moving from recovery to prosperity,” he adds.

The NEDC was established to coordinate reconstruction in the North-East following years of insurgency and displacement, and has previously overseen infrastructure and livelihood programmes across Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.