TheCable

Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, has listed the establishment of an enterprise development agency as one of the measures he intends to take in improving the ease of doing business in the state.

Speaking at a meeting with chief executive officers of companies in Abeokuta, the governor said his administration will introduce some reforms that will help to reduce bureaucratic bottleneck and improve ease of doing business in the state.

He said some of the reforms include the establishment of the State Enterprise Development Agency to strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and boost their capacities.

He said the Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency was also set up to provide a one stop shop and eliminate unnecessary delays in processing necessary documents, while the public private office has also been established to ensure that the state has a template transparent and accessible.

The governor, while calling on investors in the state to consider indigenes of the state for permanent employment or internship when siting their businesses in the state, said a bill on local content has been sent to the house of assembly to that effect.

He said good governance, through focused leadership, provision of good road network, to ease movement, provision of adequate security, digitalisation to enable the state make use of information communication technology (ICT) in its educational institutions as well as employment generation, would be vigorously pursued.

The governor said contract for the construction of Ijebu -Ode -Epe road has been awarded, just as the Ogun and Lagos governments have approached the federal government for the takeover of construction of Sagamu- Ogijo-Ikorodu, Abeokuta-Ota-Lagos roads.

“We have identified other roads like the Agbara- Atan-Ota, Ewekoro-Ifo, Sagamu interchange and the Ilaro-Ibeshe roads which are in bad shape and working to put them in good condition,” Abiodun said while decrying the poor condition of roads in the industrial hubs.

He said the state public works agency, charged with the responsibility of fixing township and rural roads, has been established, adding that deplorable roads in the state will receive attention.

He said the parley was called to enable his government explain his policy thrust and seek their buy in for the development of the state.

Contributing during  a question and answer session, Michael Onafowokan, CEO of Coleman Cable, asked the state government to develop human capital that are employable and easy to access through a portal dedicated to the investors.

On his part, Jacob Makanjuola  of WAPCO lauded the governor as the first organised sure an event, calling for a joint working committee made up of representatives of the state and the private sector for a seamless working relationship.