Kogi State Deputy Governor, Elder Simon Achuba has described the state as a haven of investment opportunities with enhanced security to make businesses thrive.
Achuba, who is also the chairman of the state economic and investment summit committee, stated this while speaking with newsmen on the summit scheduled for February 13 and 14 in Lokoja, the state capital.
He stated that the summit, the first since the creation of the state, is set to leverage on the abundant human and mineral resources of the state to build a strong economy that the people of the state could be proud of. He added that with the political will and efforts of the current administration the best time to invest in Kogi state is now.
He said that the state government is determined to employ pragmatic approach to make the state a hub of commercial activities and achieve economic breakthrough for the state.
According to him, the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osibajo, ministers, captains of industry and other major stakeholders would gather to brainstorm during the summit.
“Kogi State is a haven of investment opportunities. We have enough natural endowments to place us on same footing with high profile economies of the federation and in fact, the world.
“The conceptualisation of the economic and investment summit derived essentially from the five thematic areas of the present administration’s New Direction agenda. It is the thinking of government that for the economic growth and opportunity which is the cornerstone of the New Direction blueprint to be achieved must be premised on the generation of viable economic and business ideas midwifed by a joint enterprise between the state government and private investors and business partners across the nation and the world at large.
“To achieve this objective, a clear line of thinking reflecting new approaches to development initiatives must be employed to steer clear of the shifty approaches in the past that dwelled much on sloganeering. This is the time for action and it requires pragmatic approach and this is what we have set out to do using this economic and investment summit.”
“From the high density alluvial soil deposit to gemstone and mineral saturated crust, the land of Kogi State can sustain clusters of industries that can answer to the economic well being of the people and also make the state the nation’s hub of agriculture and industrialisation. This has given us an identity with which we wish to market our products.
“These products and produce require modernisation to exploit and also some sophistication to find the market, hence the need for an assemblage of investors, industrialists, NGOs, business partners and organisations as well as experts from across the world to cross-fertilise ideas on how best to tap these resources for the benefit of the people of Kogi State,” he said.
Over three hundred local and international investors have indicated their willingness to attend the first ever Kogi State Economic and Investment Summit, billed to take place in the state capital, Lokoja, next week.
