BY Desmond Okon
Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, has urged local investors to take advantage of investment opportunities in the state to improve its economy.
Obaseki said this on Thursday at an event organised by the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC).
The event, Meet Edo Governor, was aimed at discussing relevant issues and investment opportunities available in Edo.
The governor called on the private sector to get involved in politics to fix the economy, advising them to stop lamenting and take action.
He said investment opportunities lie in government initiatives such oil palm programme, Edo tech park, mining, real estate, and cultural district — an idea that offers huge potential for tourism by harnessing the state’s rich culture.
He said investors can also invest in the development of rice mill facilities in the state, as it produces a significant quantity of rice but lacks milling facilities.
The governor said a 1,000-hectare property with 40 megawatts of electricity on the Benin-Sapele expressway had been set aside for investment, adding that talks were ongoing to build the core infrastructure, gas networks, sewage facilities to make the location environmentally compliant.
Obaseki stated that investors had shown interest in developing pharmaceuticals.
He, however, added that he was very keen to work on food processing to address food importation and shore up the contribution of the agricultural sector to livelihood and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state.
“With the escalating food prices in the world, there is no reason why we are spending what we are spending on food importation. The state government is very committed to creating the needed environment for business partnerships to thrive in Edo,” he said.
“This administration is also very committed to moving upwards our GDP ranking to at least third position from its current seventh-place via its vast investment opportunities before the end of my tenure.
“To this, Nigerians are encouraged to come to take advantage of the opportunities currently existing in Edo following our set out policy directions to transform the state’s economy.”
The Edo governor said the state had transformed its educational sector to develop human capacity to a global standard, noting that it had also addressed its security architecture with a four-tier security system.
He added that the development of the Benin river port presents opportunities for investment as it aims to connect the state to other commercial cities and decongest Lagos ports.
“We need to connect Edo. We need to build ports in Edo to decongest Lagos,” he said.
“We have the largest glass company in Edo State, and these are all Chinese companies. We would like Nigerians to come there.”
Port congestion has been a major pain point for stakeholders in the maritime sector for many years.
Efforts to find a solution have not yielded much results — as exporters and importers spend more to clear cargoes from the Apapa port.
On February 17, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) promised to ease gridlock at Nigeria’s ports and fully automate the ports system.
Speaking on the state of the economy, Obaseki blamed the military government for the numerous challenges facing the country.
He said the military did not have legitimacy, so it was difficult for them to generate revenue through taxes.
He added that politics was key in tackling economic challenges in Nigeria and encouraged the private sector to also get involved in the politics of the country.
“If we don’t fix the politics, we can’t fix a lot of things. The private sector must step in and stop lamenting,” he said.
“The people you’re expecting to fix it may not have the capacity, but the private has the capacity.”
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