Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, says as part of attempts to provide a friendly business environment, his administration has commenced efforts geared towards stamping out corruption.
Yahaya made this disclosure on Wednesday during his remarks at a two-day maiden investment summit held at Gombe International Conference Centre.
According to the Governor, for businesses to thrive, deliberate reforms were expected to encourage growth, stressing that his administration had taken cognisance of such impediments.
He said, “It is worthy of note that providing an enabling environment for businesses is more than just enacting business reforms. For them to make the desired impacts, such reforms must succeed in reducing the duration, cost and procedure of starting and operating a business.
“It is to this end that we developed and implemented policies and programmes geared towards simplifying the registration of businesses, harmonising taxation, improving the efficiency of local officials, stamping out corruption, maintaining the security of lives and property, and building the capacity of judicial officers so as to improve the quality of the judicial system.”
While noting the impact of electricity in attracting businesses, the Governor revealed that aside from hydropower, his administration was partnering with generation companies in exploring solar alternative supply.
“Our administration is also taking bold steps towards addressing the three major issues affecting business creation and growth; security, access to finance, and electricity. On the issue of security, Gombe has remained remarkably peaceful in spite of the Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges bedevilling our subregion.
“This administration has accorded great priority to the security of lives and property. This has been recognised by the recent rating of Gombe as the safest state in the northeast by the Nigeria Security Tracker as well as the major security agencies. Let me further assure you that your investment and personnel are safe in Gombe. In addition to our numerous empowerment programs for SMEs, we are partnering with local and international stakeholders to provide cheap and affordable financing for our entrepreneurs,” Yahaya said.
He added, “Our administration recognised the role of electricity as the backbone of industrial development. To this end, we are investing strongly in energy infrastructure in order to put Gombe on a strong industrial foundation. In addition to the 40MW Dadin Kowa hydroelectric power plant, we are also working on a 250MW solar power plant in partnership with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, and another 100MW power plant under the Northern States Governors Forum renewable energy initiative.
“We are also partnering with UNIDO to harness the hydropower potentials of Balanga and Cham dams in order to power small agro-allied industrial clusters. With these initiatives, Gombe will lead the regional transition towards renewable energy, and achieve the required capacity to power its industrialization drive.”
