BY no means, the last two and a half years have not been the best of times for Nigeria. The reason for the challenge of the period is already well known. The seismic up and downturns of the economy occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic almost threw the global system off guard.
Coincidentally, the present administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State had barely settled down in office when the dreaded disease cast a tragic pall over the nation. And now that the usual stock-taking session is effectively on, preparatory to the next general elections, one can only do an objective analysis of the performance of the administration vis-à-vis his (governor’s) avowed commitment to sustain the reputation of the state as an investment destination of choice based on this background.
Owing to its combined advantages of proximity to Lagos State and availability of readymade market, Ogun currently houses perhaps the largest manufacturing companies in the sub-region. According to the 2021 second-quarter report of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, investment in Ogun stands at $500 million, representing 30% of the total figure for the country, while Lagos, with $441.3m worth of investment, represents 26% for the period under review.
Further statistics released by the World Bank also placed Ogun in a prime position in the ease of doing business index, ranking 3rd among 37 states in its latest report. In a similar report compiled by the Central Bank of Nigeria and released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2021 on capital importation into the country, Ogun equally emerged as the 5th top destination of capital investment in Nigeria, coming behind Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), Abia and Niger states respectively.
It, therefore, goes without saying that there are still enormous potentials to be harnessed for development. And, of course, the governor, as a proactive person with a private sector background, has not been resting on his oars; he has been making concerted efforts to break new grounds by building private/public partnerships for infrastructural development necessary for sustainable industrial growth. And he is doing so with zest and gusto.
The evidence of that is his recent business tours of Egypt and Ethiopia aimed at attracting pan-African investors and partners to further boost the state’s revenue profile. While in Egypt, the governor met the Chief Business Development Officer of Áfríkà for Wadi Degla Holding, a Cairo-based multi-business conglomerate that is into real estate, telecoms and sports services. With a special interest in creative arts, entertainment and sports development, Wadi Degla Holding is exploring the African market and wants to invest especially in Nigeria. Abiodun believes that, as the Gateway State, Ogun should be accorded utmost consideration due to the existing ease of doing business and other socio-economic transformation ongoing in the state.
In his quest for investment opportunities, Abiodun also had a meeting with Mr Gagan Gupta, a renowned entrepreneur, who is also co-founder, ARISE IIP, ARISE IS and ARISE P&L, as part of his effort to develop sustainable industrial, infrastructure and logistics solutions. His motivation derives from the fact that the tripartite pan-African company has a record of developing sustainable industrial ecosystems, supported by infrastructure and logistics solutions in Gabon, Togo and the Benin Republic. To that effect, the Senior Minister of Economy and Finance in the Benin Republic, Mr Romauld Wadagni, was there to share his experience with the governor in the Republic, which resulted in the successful implementation. The meeting centred on building a partnership in the area of Agro-Processing and Industrial Zone and the development of the Olokonla Port, a vital component of the administration’s integrated multimodal transport master plan.
Abiodun also met with the management of Elsewedy Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Egypt with significant investment opportunities across Africa and Europe. In this context, the governor sought partnership with the group in the areas of healthcare, industrial park development, real estate, intelligent transport systems network and management, tolling systems, and the power sector.
The governor, who spoke at the end of the meeting, said Elsewedy CEO is expected to be in Ogun to sign the necessary documents that would consummate the deal.
Abiodun also held a similar meeting with Orascom Construction Plc, a leading global engineering and construction company on how to bring about investments in infrastructure, commerce, and industry through public-private sector arrangements to Ogun State.
Suffice to say that with the ongoing effort, Ogun is poised to take the full benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to boost its trade and investment within the West Africa sub-region. Primarily, this concern was what led to the establishment of AfCFTA to accelerate intra-African trade relations and boost Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations. Abiodun is already looking out for Ogun’s slice of the market presented by AfCFTA.
During his investment tour of Ethiopia, the governor met with the Ethiopian Minister of Industry, Ato Melaku Alebal, in Addis Ababa, to explore areas of mutual benefits in the areas of trade, investment and collaboration between Ethiopia and Ogun (and by extension Nigeria). Of particular interest is the area of the Special Agro-Processing Zones, which are being implemented by the African Development Bank.
Prior to this, the Ogun State government had met with the AfDB in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, towards the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the bank on the establishment of the SAPZs programme. When completed, SAPZ will be located at the Gateway Agro-Cargo Airport in Ilishan-Remo area of the state.
All this is without losing the focus of the administration on the importance of agriculture as one of the mainstays of the state’s economy. And on that note, Abiodun embarked on an assessment tour of the UK manufacturing and agro-processing headquarters of Alvan Blanch, a company that specialises in the manufacturing and supply of machines used for the processing of agricultural produce and waste. When the initiative comes to fruition, it will change the narrative about the dwindling fortune of the agricultural sector in the state and beyond.
The governor has also gone further to attract OCP Africa investment into the state. OCP Africa is a Moroccan-based multinational investing a total of N9bn in fertiliser blending plants with a production capacity of over 600,000metric tons.
In the same vein, the Abiodun administration has again struck an investment deal with Terratiga Limited, an investor from The Netherlands investing in animal feeds with a production capacity of 100 tons per day and 1.2million tonnes per annum.
Knowing that his aggressive drive for investment in the state would only remain a pipe-dream without the necessary enabling environment, Abiodun has put in place a number of policy measures that could attract business investors. These include the establishment of the Business Environment Council, restructuring of the land acquisition process to remove all bottlenecks, upgrading of Geographic Information System as well as the creation of the Ogun State Land Administration and Revenue Management Systems to digitalise land acquisition for both ease and efficiency.
Ogbonnikan wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun State capital
