Enugu Government Makes Big Move To Transform State

The vision of our administration is to make Enugu one of the top three revenue-generating states in Nigeria, to attain a 0% poverty headcount rate, and to ensure peace and security in the sprint to grow Enugu’s economy exponentially from a $4.4bn GDP to a $30 billion GDP economy in the next eight years.’

A move that can unquestionably pass for an aggressive transformation plan was at play Friday in Lagos as Professor Chidiebere Onyia, SSG, Enugu State, reeled out the state’s transformation strategy, at a press interactive session.

Enugu State is not going it alone. It is doing it in partnership with the Indonesian Government. The arrow head of the event, themed ‘Rediscov­ering Business Potential in Nigeria’ is the Nigerian Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (NICCI).

Professor Onyia spooled out his State’s vision with all confidence: “The vision of our administration is to make Enugu one of the top three revenue-gen­erating states in Nigeria, to attain a 0% poverty headcount rate, and to ensure peace and security in the sprint to grow Enugu’s economy exponentially from a $4.4bn GDP to a $30 billion GDP econo­my in the next 8 years. This vision em­phasises inclusive economic growth and sector competitiveness, sustainable economic, social, and environmental resilience for all citizens, and the resto­ration of peace and security for people, property, and critical economic and so­cial processes.”

Onyia added “Our mission is to make Enugu the preferred destination for investment, business, tourism and living in Nigeria”.

For him, “Enugu State will become Nigeria’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.”

Said the don: “The blueprint for our economic transformation underscores a three-pronged strategy of boosting sector productivity, reforming key state institutions, and creating cross-cutting social sector programmes and ser­vices.”

In case economy watchers like us and other stakeholders would want to raise concern on trending threatening security issue, he had an answer: “We also understand that security is a major enabler for investment and that’s why our administration under the leader­ship of His Excellency Dr Peter Mbah, was bullish in tackling insecurity utiliz­ing every digital and physical apparatus to provide a safe and secure Enugu. I am proud to say that the illegal sit-at-home no longer exists in Enugu State. The government is working assiduously to ensure that safety of life and property are prioritised in Enugu.”

Strategy

On strategy, he argued: “Our admin­istration will adopt an integrated sec­tor-based productivity growth strategy. This strategy is designed to shift eco­nomic focus away from low productivi­ty activities to sectors with the greatest potential for growth. Prioritising sec­tors that hold latent comparative advan­tage will ensure that we meet our $30 billion GDP target through accelerated competitiveness and industrialization.

“One of our key priorities under the integrated sector strategy is to in­crease our agricultural output through agricultural modernization and infra­structure development. Deploying cap­ital towards modernized farming will boost labour productivity and enhance agricultural surplus, in preparation for our value-addition agro-industrial­ization agenda. The government will also strengthen value chain linkages and invest in enabling infrastructure to prevent post-harvest losses and pro­mote trade.

“In agriculture, the state will pri­oritize the development of special agro-allied industrial zones. The aim is to drive the modernization and productivity of our key agricultural product value chains. It will also drive value addition, increase our export po­tential, and create rural jobs. Because technological advancements are now essential to achieving agricultural sus­tainability goals, our focus will be on scaling technologies for agricultural system transformation, such as pro­ductivity-enhancing farm machinery, e-wallet systems to track subsidised ag­ricultural inputs, providing soft loans to farmers, and technology-enabled exten­sion services that educate and provide technical assistance to farmers on latest agronomy practises.”

Industrialization Strategy

For Onyia: “Another priority area under the Integrated Sector-Based Pro­ductivity Growth Strategy is industrial­ization. Our administration will focus on creating an enabling business envi­ronment for local and foreign investors to establish industrial ventures in Enu­gu State. We have constituted a work­ing group to ensure that we streamline administrative processes and eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks that hamper growth and investments. I am happy to announce that we are beginning to make remarkable strides as investors are guaranteed title documents within 72hours of purchasing land in Enugu. “Energy

We all know that energy is a worrisome issue in relation to eco­nomic development and growth. His take on this: “In Energy, we will build critical infrastructure that will ensure that we harness and utilize our gas resources along the value chain from production to end-user consumption. We are also creating investment opportunities in the renewable energy space from solar powered infrastructure to bio­diesel plants using waste products. Our commitment to decarbonise and shift to low carbon economy is unwavering and we will contin­ue to lead in the just transition to a net zero economy. Enugu stands as one of the first states to pass the electricity law and we have started the process of setting up our regu­latory commission. Democratizing the power sector will catalyse pri­vate sector investment and lead to a competitive energy market that is reliable and cost-effective.”

State Profile

In case you are wondering what makes Enugu qualify for the ro­bust transformation in question, Onyia has an answer. Hear him: “Enugu boasts of a rich mineral sector. The mineral resources in Enugu include: lignite, ironstone, sand limestone, clay mineral, glass sand, oil shale, coal, illite, kaloline, alum, laterite etc. One of our key priorities is to seek investment to­wards a sustainable exploration, production, and consumption ap­proach. This will ensure that we are able to harness our mineral resources with minimal environ­mental impact. With this, we will develop mineral resources on our soil using a sustainable value chain approach. We will begin by mobilis­ing financing to conduct a thorough geo-spatial mapping of our natural resource endowments, followed by their sustainable extraction, bene­ficiation, and value addition.

“Our multi-modal transport system in Enugu requires an Inte­grated Sector-Based approach. Our vision to develop and expand exist­ing transport infrastructure will re­quire the mobilization of private investment in the complimentary transport and ICT infrastructure with a strong focus on building resilient transportation systems. This will facilitate the exportation of goods and services. Enugu State also has the energy resources to power and build our transportation infrastructure.”

Role of ICT

And on role of ICT which now rules the business and allied spac­es, what is his take on this? For him, the role of ICT, innovation and digital infrastructure in achieving our exponential growth target can­not be overstated. “We have com­menced our e-governance process and our vision is to increase broad­band internet availability, establish ICT and tech clusters, build a tier 4 hyperscale commercial AI data centre, implement structured ICT education in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, and in­crease skill acquisition in four ar­eas of interest: fintech and digital finance, IT services, cyber security, and e-commerce.”

We can go on and on. It is a mar­athon. Enugu will harness the rich tourism sites in Enugu and deploy investments in eco-tourism; will drive a once-in-a-generation invest­ment in roads, bridges, railroads, ports and other infrastructure; will prioritize efficient and resilient multi-modal transportation sys­tems and expand trade infrastruc­ture and facilitation measures, etc.

Public Private Partnership

Enugu government is shifting from the current dominant public sector financing model to public/ private sector partnership.

According to Onyia, Peter Mbah’s administration recognises private investment as a key driv­er of long-term economic growth and prosperity… “Enugu State,” for him, “will fully support domestic and international partners who are looking forward to expanding their presence in the state”.

He stressed: “…we are hopeful that this collaboration with the In­donesian government births a long-term partnership that will result in mutual prosperity, capital flows and diversification of Indonesian industries into Enugu. “

Nigerian Indonesian Invest­ment and Trade Forum 2023

Enugu State is a key participant in the Nigerian Indonesian Invest­ment and Trade Forum 2023 which will hold in Jakarta Indonesia this month. The Enugu State Commis­sioner for Trade, Investment and Industry, Adaora Chukwu, said that the state’s partnership with Indo­nesian government was based on the state governor’s initiative to move the state from 4.4 billion dol­lars to 30 billion dollars economy. She said that part of the ways to achieve the mandate was through strategic partnerships and collab­oration with various international and local investors to harness the various investment opportunities in the state.

She explained the investment fo­rum would help to open up newer opportunities for investors, busi­ness, trade, and export arrange­ment between both countries’ economies.

“The government has adopted a model which is the Integrated Sec­tor Growth Strategy (ISGS) which implies that no sector is priori­tized above another, with synergy and connections of every sector to the other. Efforts have been made to strengthen regulatory and legal framework to ensure the elimina­tion of bottle necks to allow inves­tors to come in.”

Ishmael Balogun, President, Nigeria Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), in his opening address at the press conference, said that investments between both countries have shored up to 4.6 billion dollars in 2022 from 2.6 billion in 2021.He said that the potential to do more exist­ed, hence the theme for the event in Indonesia. He said Peter Mbah, the Governor of Enugu State, will be delivering the keynote address this year in line with his promise to raise the GDP of his state.

Said he: “We have a very robust line up of participants both from the public and private sectors from Nigeria and Indonesia.

Areas of focus include but not limited to manufacturing, renew­able energy, power generation, in­frastructure development, health, agriculture, transportation, min­ing, digital economy and much more. This will be followed by a government to government, gov­ernment to business and business to business round table discussions to further foster sustainable collab­orations and fruitful partnerships.

Quadri Olaitan