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The Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has asked investors in the United Kingdom to exploit the peaceful nature of the state, its renewed infrastructure and readiness to pamper investors as reasons to make the state a preferred destination in Nigeria.
He spoke at the weekend at the Draper’s Hall in London during the Agriculture Session of the Diaspora Investment Symposium entitled ‘Investing in Nigeria’ organized by the office of the Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Peter Carter.
According to him, the state government was participating in the symposium with the aim of initiating a partnership and strong working relationship with investors who are sourcing opportunities in Nigeria and to share the significant economic opportunities that abound in the state.
Beginning with a detailed economic profile of Nigeria, its GDP contribution and positive long term outlook, Ajimobi thereafter painted a positive economic profile and comparative advantage of Oyo State which he said was a necessary condition for investment.
“Oyo State has a land area of 27,107.5km sq which is slightly bigger than Wales’, has an approximate working population of 4.3million with a vibrant labour workforce, a population of approximately 7.5 m which is the second biggest in South West Nigeria and a per capita GSP of $276, about five world-class research institutes and is located in a strategic business hub that links the whole of the southwest to the North,” he told the audience.
The governor also took his 400-investors audience through the historical antecedent of the state as a state of ‘firsts’ and its “abundant and largely untapped resources” which included numerous investment opportunities in agricultural production, agro-allied industries, cassava production, value addition, tourist attractions and development of the hospitality industry in the state.
Ajimobi, who told the audience that the vision of his administration was to build “a state in which people can be the best they can” also said that his government was providing good governance that was “participatory, transparent and accountable, with efficient service delivery, towards making Oyo a preferred destination for national, regional and international trade, investment flows and leisure activities.”
On what the state had done so far to ensure it is a preferred destination for investors, the governor said his administration had laid “a solid foundation for the repositioning of the state” through social and physical infrastructure and had succeeded in attracting investors who are partnering with government to ensure a remarkable transformation strides in various sectors of the state economy.
“We have ensured relative peace and improvement in the security of lives and property, as well as done extensive work to clean up and beautify the state. At the moment, we have also commenced plan for a Waste to Wealth initiative of making the state eco-friendly. Current agricultural production in the state includes cocoa, oil palm, cassava, yam, maize, rice, pineapples etc and towards this, we have procured and distributed hundreds of tractors and farm implements to our farmers,” the governor said.
Ajimobi told the audience that, given this background, the state government was willing to partner with investors to further exploit opportunities in agro-business, food processing and manufacturing through mechanized and large-scale farming and local assembling of farming equipment, stating that the expected socio-economic impact of this would be employment generation, wealth for investors, sufficiency in food production and reduction of importation of locally manufactured goods.
Ajimobi also said that, in addition to the incentives of the federal government, the state was ready to grant 100 per cent tax holiday for up to seven years to qualified eligible industries, partner with investors to increase production capacity, timely issuance of relevant land title documents, provision of support infrastructure such as access roads where required, among others.
In his own presentation, Mr. Temi Eleoramo, Managing Director of Kohath Investment Group, which is developing an integrated rice production project in the Kaiama area of Kwara State, in partnership with the state government, said the company was open to investors for partnership in the project while Mr. Segun Lawson of LandAfrique Agro Limited also told the audience of his establishment’s strides in producing Nigeria’s largest mechanized farm on a 4,000 hectares of land.
Chairman of the session, Mr. Henry Bellingham, who is also Member of the British Parliament, commended Governor Ajimobi’s presentation for its depth and the governor’s eloquence
“We thought (Babatunde) Fashola who was the only Nigerian governor with eloquence, now we know there is another eloquent and dynamic governor in Ajimobi,” he told the audience.
Present at the occasion were the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, Ogun State Deputy Governor Prince Segun Adesegun, representative of the Ondo State governor, Oyo and Ogun States’ commissioners for Trade and investment, Mrs. Oyefunke Oworu and Mr. Gbenga Ashiru.
