By Samuel Itsede
Target agricultural, energy, trade and investment opportunities
Nigerian economy can only grow from the states – Mbah
The government of Germany has expressed its eagerness to strengthen economic cooperation with the government and people of Enugu State, especially in the areas of agriculture, energy, trade and investment.
The German government said that it chosed Enugu State as one of its three business and investment destinations in the entire southern Nigeria given its findings on improved ease-of-doing-business under the Dr. Peter Mbah Administration and affirmation by the Nigerian media.
The German government spoke through its Consul General, Mr. Weert Börner, who led a delegation of the German business community and the German Corporation for International Cooperation, GIZ, on a working visit to Governor Peter Mbah at Government House, Enugu.
Börner said the visit was in continuation of discussions that started in Lagos in 2023 on increasing German cooperation with Enugu State in the aforementioned sectors.
“So, I am very happy to be here in Enugu city to increase and deepen our conversation on this cooperation. I am also very happy that the delegation with me is comprised of representatives of the DHK (Deutsche Handels Kompetenz), which is our chamber in Lagos for industry and commerce; GIZ, our international cooperation agency and Siemens Energy, a private company that is already doing a lot in Nigeria to improve electricity and energy sector.
“We get a lot of news by the Nigerian media and through our own office that Enugu State and its own government have improved a lot in the sense of structuring process to get business easier done to improve the infrastructural basis for joint engagement.
“We are actually very happy about this development. The German government decided to concentrate more on specific states within the Nigerian federal system. And those states from the south are Ogun, Abia, and Enugu State. So, this is why I am here to get our cooperation on a higher and more intense level,” the envoy stated.
While appreciating the Germans for choosing Enugu State as one of their economic partners, Governor Peter Mbah said his administration was very ready and willing to partner with German government and businesses.
Mbah emphasised that the $30bn GDP target his administration set for itself, though high, was realisable through private sector investments and international cooperation, adding also that Nigeria’s much-needed economic growth could only come from the states, not the centre.
“I want to put on record our deep appreciation to you for selecting Enugu as one of the three southern states you want to partner with.
“We are really excited about this essentially because though we are subnational, our ambition and the goals we have set for ourselves are national in scale.
“We plan to grow the economy to a point that is unprecedented. If you look at the target, we set for ourselves to grow the economy from $4.4bn to $30bn in the next seven years. It appears too ambitious because you are talking about a sevenfold growth and you are looking at a compounded annual growth rate of 27 per cent, but we think it is realisable because we are looking at unlocking a lot of the economic potentials of the state that have not been touched.
“So, before now, we have also been working very hard, preparing ourselves for a day like this because the economic growth of this nation will not come from top to the bottom. I have always been an ardent advocate that growth will come from the periphery. It will come from the bottom-up,” he said.
The governor assured the German government and businesses of massive opportunities in the areas of agriculture, energy, trade and investment.
“We see agriculture as one of the major sectors that we can use to rapidly grow our economy. For us, agriculture is beyond food security.
“We are also putting together the Special Agro Processing Zones to meet up with our consumption and begin to package for local market and export. The ultimate goal is to be able to develop these produce into products, standardise them, and have them exported,” he stated.
Mbah said the government was in the advanced stages of getting the international wing of Akanu Ibiam International Airport completed and operationalised as well as build a cargo terminal to facilitate exports.
Still on agriculture, he said the state had acquired about 300,000 hectres of land to attract commercial farmers, while also seeking partnerships in the development of the livestock industry where the administration had taken steps to better structure and modernise the industry by initiating and signing the Ranch Management Agency Law.
The governor said the state had embarked on an aggressive development of road infrastructure so that investors would not have to worry about access to farmlands and evacuation of farm produce and processed products.
He equally urged the German delegation to take advantage of the extensive work already done by the state in the form of institutional strengthening, progressive policies, and improved regulations in the electricity sector through partnership and investment.
