Business Community converge on Gombe for first ever investment summit

Speaking at the opening of the three-day summit in the north eastern state, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, said Gombe State was open for business for both local and foreign investors, giving them the assurance of their safety and conducive environment for their businesses to thrive.

Governor Yahaya expressed satisfaction with the response of investors and the business community, revealing that hundreds of investors have expressed interest to operate from the industrial park and many more areas within the State.

He said the state was blessed with vast economic potential, especially with its high rating as the Best in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria and the safest and most peaceful State in the North East.

“Our position is boosted by Gombe’s strategic location at the center of the north-east subregion and proximity to neighboring countries around the Lake Chad basin, enterprising and peace-loving population, unity in diversity, comparative advantage in agriculture, commerce, and abundance of natural resource like limestone, gypsum, uranium, coal, crude oil, kaolin, etc. Gombe also boasts of great potentials in irrigation and hydropower generation through the Dadin Kowa, Balanga and Cham dams” said Governor Yahaya.

The theme of the summit is “Industrialisation: the Pathway to Innovation, Transformation and Development of Gombe” and Governor Yahaya said the state was in partnership with local and international stakeholders to provide affordable financing for entrepreneurs, through the numerous empowerment programmes for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs.

He said the state government was working to leverage on digital skills and opportunities to develop Gombe into a regional ICT hub to harness the creative energies of the youths.

According to him, a solid and resilient infrastructure is being put in place to serve as a catalyst for industrialisation and growth, unlock opportunities and deliver sustainable prosperity to the people.

“This is evident in our numerous interventions in the education and health sectors through the constructions and upgrade of schools and hospitals, construction of rural and urban roads under the Network 11-100 project, the Gombe Mega Motor Park project, the Gombe Regional Water Expansion Scheme, and most importantly, the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park. The 1000-hectare mega industrial facility is strategically located along the linking point of transport and energy infrastructure. It is expected to help consolidate Gombe’s position as the industrial hub of the North-east sub-region,” said Governor Yahaya.

Governor Yahaya also said his administration was taking bold steps to address the three major issues affecting business creation and growth, which were security, access to finance, and electricity.

He observed that Gombe State had remained largely peaceful in spite of the Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges in the North East, because his administration accorded great priority to security of lives and property.

Similarly, Governor Yahaya said his administration recognised the role of electricity as the backbone of industrial development, by investing strongly in energy infrastructure in order to put Gombe on a strong industrial foundation.

“In addition to the 40MW Dadin Kowa hydroelectric power plant, we are also working on a 250 MW solar power plant in partnership with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, and another 100MW power plant under the Northern States Governors Forum renewable energy initiative. We are also partnering with UNIDO to harness the hydropower potentials of Balanga and Cham dams in order to power small agro-allied industrial clusters. With these initiatives, Gombe will lead the regional transition towards renewable energy, and achieve the required capacity to power its industrialization drive,” said Governor Yahaya. 

He said the memorandum of understanding to be signed during the summit with some leading local and international brands, would further demonstrate the success of the Gombe State Government’s efforts.

The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Ease of Doing Business and Secretary of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, extolled the administrative ingenuity of Governor Yahaya and his cabinet for churning out realistic policies and plans that earned the State top spot in the ease of doing business in the country.

Dr. Jumoke Oduwole revealed that based on a methodological home grown baseline survey conducted, Gombe State came top in infrastructure and transparency, security, electricity, transportation and Primary Health Care, accessibility to information via Investment promotion, regulatory environment as well as skills and development.

She said Gombe earned the top spot, not because of geographical location or any other consideration, but by what is being done, strong leadership and cohesion in the managerial circle which brought positive results.

Similarly, the Gombe State Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Summit, Dr.  Manassah Daniel Jatau, said the summit was organized in order to showcase and highlight all the potentials and opportunities that abound to investors and convince them to come and do business in State.

He appealed to the Federal Government, Investors and all Stakeholders to “dip your buckets where you are” to ensure the success of this Summit, which is crucial for the progressive change in the lives of residents of Gombe, the North East Geopolitical Zone and the country at large.