The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Prof. Adesoji Adesugba says the 1.5 billion naira investment brought into the Kano Free Trade Zone by Sunbelt Free Zone Enterprise is an offshoot of sustained intervention by the Federal Government in order to maintain the zone as an investors’ attractive anchorage.
The Managing Director, NEPZA Prof. Adesoji Adesugba made the remark when he received the Executive Director and one of the promoters of the enterprise, Mr Murtala Jega in Abuja.
Adesugba explained that the Authority and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had so far collaborated seamlessly in executing President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive on using the scheme to generate employment for the country’s teeming youth population.
He stated that when operational, Sunbelt has the capacity of engaging 3000 direct and indirect labour.
“We are happy with this feat. This is the kind of investment the Federal Government is expecting us to sustain. It is the Authority’s desire at this stage to position Nigeria for competitiveness in order to benefit maximally from the new Africa free trade regime made possible by the African Continental Free Trade Zone Agreement (ACFTA),” he said.
According to him, “It is our fervent prayer to diligently work within the purview of the mandate of actualizing the country’s industrialization. In doing this, we shall not disappoint the president and the nation,” Adesugba said.
Sunbelt which specializes in the
manufacturing of fabrics and textiles was licensed on December 12, 2019 as a partnership firm jointly owned by four Investors including three Chinese and a Nigerian.
On the N1.4 billion approval given by the Federal Executive Council for the upgrade of electricity facilities at the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Adesugba said the development was a genuine disposition of president Buhari’s commitment to use the zone scheme as one of the key drivers of the nation’s economy.
He also acknowledged that similar overture had been extended to the Kano zone for upgrade of the zone’s electricity to 25 Megawatts scalable to 150 megawatts as the need expands, adding that the two public zones had the capacity to scale up local production significantly when fully supported.
Suzan O
