The 7,000-square-metre facility is designed to improve food storage, distribution and trading as Lagos expands its network of modern food hubs

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, commissioned the Lagos Fresh Food Hub at Pen Cinema, Agege, describing the 7,000-square-metre facility as a significant step in the state’s drive to strengthen food security, improve distribution and modernise food trading across the metropolis.

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Sanwo-Olu said the Lagos food hub formed part of the state’s wider Food Systems Transformation Agenda, which is designed to address weaknesses across the food chain, from production and aggregation to storage, logistics, processing and retail.

The governor said Lagos, with a population of more than 25 million people, relies heavily on food supplied from outside the state, with more than 70 per cent of the food consumed by residents produced elsewhere.

That dependence, he said, creates additional pressure on the food system because produce often travels long distances before reaching consumers.

According to Sanwo-Olu, the resulting logistics costs, post-harvest losses, inadequate storage capacity, supply disruptions and price volatility have made it necessary for Lagos to develop a more interconnected food distribution system.

Rather than concentrating food trading in one central market, the governor said the state was establishing a network of hubs positioned at different points across Lagos.

He urged farmers, traders, aggregators and other participants in the food value chain to take advantage of the new infrastructure, stressing that the success of the initiative would ultimately depend on the people who use the facilities.

The Agege hub has a 4,000-square-metre trading floor capable of accommodating between 350 and 400 vendors. It also provides about 1,200 square metres of dry storage with capacity for approximately 800 metric tonnes of produce.

A further 300 metric tonnes of cold storage capacity is available, alongside a dedicated seafood section and parking space for between 80 and 90 vehicles.

The facility also has 10 electric vehicle charging points, reflecting the state’s effort to incorporate cleaner transport infrastructure into its evolving food logistics network.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems Abisola Olusanya said the hubs were being developed under a “hub-and-spoke” model.

Under the arrangement, the Lagos Central Food Systems and Logistics Hub at Ketu-Ereyun, Epe, will serve as the main aggregation and logistics platform, while smaller facilities such as Agege will bring food distribution closer to consumers.

Olusanya said the model was intended to reduce losses caused by poor handling and inadequate storage, ease congestion linked to food transportation and provide traders with cleaner, safer and more organised trading environments.

The Agege facility is projected to facilitate more than N5 billion in food transactions annually based on its trading capacity and expected volume of produce.

Despite Wednesday’s commissioning, the hub will not immediately begin full commercial operations. Olusanya said operators would require about six weeks to complete onboarding and establish the logistics and governance systems needed for day-to-day operations.

The operating structure is backed by a 351-page framework covering operator selection, produce reception and quality control, storage, inventory management, sanitation, waste management and the allocation of trading spaces.

Olusanya said the framework would also give the state greater visibility across the food chain by providing information about where produce comes from, how much enters the hub, available storage levels and where losses occur.

The commissioner stressed that the system would not take away traders’ control over their commercial relationships, including pricing and payment arrangements.

Instead, she said, the government and hub management would provide the infrastructure, operating rules and oversight required to create a more structured marketplace.

At the centre of the broader strategy is the Lagos Central Food Systems and Logistics Hub at Ketu-Ereyun, Epe, which Sanwo-Olu said was at an advanced stage of construction and would be commissioned before the end of his administration.

The central hub is expected to provide cold and dry storage, processing and repackaging facilities, quality-control laboratories, warehouses, logistics bays and digital trading platforms.

Once operational, it is projected to handle more than 1.5 million metric tonnes of food annually and service more than 1,500 food trucks each day.

The Agege facility is one of several mid-level hubs planned to connect the central logistics system with communities across the state. Other locations include Mushin and Abijo, while additional hubs are being developed or planned for Opebi, Bombata, Ikorodu, Apapa, Festac and the Lekki axis.

The Mushin facility has already played a role in Lagos’ response to food affordability pressures. Olusanya said it was used as a platform for the Ounje Eko food subsidy programme during the 2024 food inflation crisis before the initiative was expanded to 66 locations across the state.

Sanwo-Olu also pointed to other measures supporting the state’s food strategy, including the Produce for Lagos Programme and the N500 billion Offtake Guarantee Fund.

He said more than 125,800 farmers and fishermen had received training in modern agricultural practices, while more than 4,000 young people had been trained through the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme.

The governor also highlighted the Lagos Rice Mill at Imota, saying the facility had produced more than 250,000 50kg bags of Eko Rice during the past year.

The combination of production support, market infrastructure and logistics investment reflects the state government’s attempt to address food security beyond simply increasing agricultural output.

For a city that depends significantly on food arriving from other parts of Nigeria, the challenge is also about how quickly and efficiently produce can move from farms and aggregation points to markets and ultimately consumers.

Origin Tech Group partnered with the Lagos State Government on the Agege project, translating the administration’s food-systems strategy into infrastructure covering aggregation, storage, logistics, wholesale and retail distribution.

Olusanya said the ambition was for Agege to demonstrate what a modern food market could provide and eventually become a benchmark for food-shopping facilities in Lagos, Nigeria and Africa.

The immediate test, however, will begin when traders move into the facility and full operations commence in the coming weeks.

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If the hub delivers on its projected capacity, improves storage and handling and reduces avoidable losses, the Agege model could provide an important template for the wider network Sanwo-Olu wants established across Lagos’ local government areas and local council development areas.