Follow Us on Google
… Mulls $30bn GDP in 8 years
From Amaechi Ogbonna and Jude Chinedu, Enugu
Governor of Enugu State, Mr Peter Mbah, yesterday, unveiled an ambitious $2.1billion investment proposal to local and international business community with a pledge to de-risk the operating environment and remove all bottleneck that had impeded commercial and economic activities in the state over the years.
This was even as he received assurances for technical and financial support from several development partners including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Afrexim bank and the International Finance Corporation among others to drive the roadmap.
Mbah who spoke at the Enugu State Investment Round held at state conference hall in the state capital, said his mission was to make Enugu one of first revenue-generating states in Nigeria, and to attain a zero percent poverty headcount rate, through peaceful and secure business environment.
He said the sprint to this sustainable development trajectory targets growing Enugu State to a $30 billion GDP economy over the next 8 years from the current $4billion size
According to him , the vision emphasises an inclusive economic growth and sector competitiveness, sustainable economic, social, and environmental resilience for all citizens, and the restoration of peace and security for people, property, and critical economy
This was even as he explained that the final Doing Business Index report had ranked Enugu as the 9th best state in the nation for the process, time, and cost of registering a property, and 3rd best state for the process, time, and cost of starting a business.
He added however that his government has begun tackling significant issues with the business-enabling environment under the direction of the World Bank’s State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABRE).
This he said included a review of the State’s land administration and land investment process, the public-private partnerships (PPP) policy framework, and frameworks and services for investment promotion.
Mbah also noted that the state has invested in a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform, and was currently streamlining the state’s tax and land administration systems. “We will open a one-stop investment centre in the coming weeks, ensuring that services for investment support are quick, easy, and efficient. Enugu State will issue C of O’s within 72 hours.”
As part of strategies to fill the state’s infrastructure financing gap in the face of lean government resources he said the state would enlist the contribution of development partners and private actors.
“The ongoing revision of our Public Private Partnerships Law will provide a clear, predictable, and legitimate institutional framework while also opening up new opportunities for private investment.”
The governor said his administration already recognises the need to develop innovative approaches to ensure that there is effective identification structuring and enhancement of projects, attraction of co-investors, and facilitate investments to close the financing gap, which is the premise for the annual Enugu State Diaspora and Investment Forum, that would seek to provide a stable platform to accelerate the financing and delivery of large-scale investment-ready projects with the potential to transform the state.
Yesterday’s round table according to the Governor was expected to kick off the work of an Enugu State Diaspora and Investment Unit, which will identify, prepare, and curate projects to bankability in preparation for the inaugural Enugu State Diaspora and Investment Summit in the second quarter of 2024.
Mbah however, assured prospective investors that Enugu is bankable, secure, and safe, adding that Investing in the state would be a sound business decision and a sustainable strategy.
“We need to hear from you about the bottlenecks that the government needs to address, and we need to agree on which projects, social sector programmes, and business environment reforms to prioritise. We anticipate that this roundtable will produce clear recommendations and reform directions to inform policy, and that you will make firm commitments to deploy capital and technical assistance to conceptualise, prepare, and implement transformational projects in the State.”
