The Enugu State Government at the Enugu State Investment and Economic Growth Stakeholder roundtable held on Friday at the Old Government Lodge, GRA, Enugu revealed plans to move the state from a public service-dominated state to an investment hub with a view to grow her Gross Domestic Product from $4billion to $30billion within four to eight years.
Speaking on the theme ‘Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships’, Dr. Mbah stated, “My vision is to transition the state from public to private investment-led growth, which will eventually close our physical and social infrastructure gap, create hundreds of thousands of jobs for the people, and expand our economy towards the 30-billion-dollar growth trajectory that we know is achievable.”
“The magnitude of the efforts required to achieve our transformation goal calls for a shift away from the current dominant public sector model and towards policies and business environment reforms that will attract increased private sector and African diaspora participation in financing and delivering infrastructure and services in critical economic areas.”
Optimistically Dr. Mbah stated, “Enugu State will become Nigeria/South East’s most remarkable success story driven by industrialization and structural economic transformation, responsible public financial management, robust growth in trade and investment, and sustainable and inclusive infrastructural development.”
Mbah revealed that his administration is taking deliberate steps to make the state a preferred investment destination by creating a friendly and de-risked business environment that would guarantee impressive returns on investment; “we shall address the bottlenecks identified to ensure ease of doing business.”
Presenting about 30 potential project opportunities with an estimated investment value of more than 2.1 billion dollars to investors present, the Secretary to the State Governor, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia reveals the projects span across transport and logistics, agriculture, energy and minerals, healthcare, eco-tourism and hospitality, aviation, as well as information and communication technology (ICT) sectors.
While commending the state government’s efforts and plans, the Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonny Baxter, said he will promote products of the state in his country.
“Cashew, coconut and plantain are products planted in Enugu and other South Eastern States; these are among the top priority products which are under the scheme.”
“I will be delighted to ask people in the UK to look out for the cashew nuts produced in Enugu; Cocoyam, which is also produced in the state, is also a priority product,”
“We are all working together so that we can transform the enormous economic potentials in the state into a prosperous reality. I look forward to fostering a mutual investment and trading relationships between the UK and Enugu State,” Baxter said.
The event was well attended by the World Bank, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), African Development Bank (AfDB), United Kingdom Department for Business and Trade, the Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company, prospective local and international investors, development financiers, and members of the diplomatic community.
