Nigeria: Ogun Eyes U.S $1 Trillion Investment, Attracts 46 New Firms in Two Years
The Ogun State Government, at the midweek said it has so far attracted 46 new companies with total market value of $7.3 billion in the last two years, as a testimony to the success of its maiden investors' forum in 2012.
Buoyed by that feat, the government says it will continue to partner the private sector to drive the investment capability to $1 trillion.
Currently, about 30 other companies are at various stages of completion.
Speaking at the opening of its two-day second investors' forum in Abeokuta, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, said Ogun has created an enabling environment to thrive and improve its investment climate, which he said, is capable of driving investment beyond the current status.
He assured: "We have the capacity to grow beyond where we are presently. We have Lafarge WAPCO cement, WEMCO Cold Steam Iron Steel, May and Baker Pharmaceutical Company, Shongai Plant, Procter and Gamble which is the largest single American investment in Nigeria outside the petroleum sector, Dangote Cement and so on. The talking point today is not about who is in Ogun State, rather, it is about who is not in the state.
"We have also conducted the business of government and reformed the structures of our service delivery to ensure that Ogun State is not only open for business but indeed friendly to business. The tremendous positive response of investors in choosing the state and our unflinching desire to enhance the value proposition of Ogun State for discerning investors has informed the theme of this forum and our direction for immediate future."
The state, he continued, is "ambitious, determined and forward looking in our developmental programmes and projects. We care focused on preparing our people and our state for the future. We see Ogun State as one state that will play a pivotal role in the future development of Nigeria and Africa by harnessing our potentials in Agribusiness."
In his keynote speech at the forum with the theme: "Agriculture and Urban Development," former President of Mexico, Vincent Fox, said the state has demonstrated with the forum that it has a purpose and knows where it is going which is to take the state to the summit of industrialisation and take its place among the leading states in the African summit.
"It is only those who know they are going that will get there. Ogun State knows where it is going and with a road map, the state will get there. I don't have any doubt that in this 21st Century, Africa will be the engine that will move the World economy and that states like Ogun with its current ambtious move, will be at the forefront," Fox stated.
The Independent