The Gombe state Government has held an investors’ round table meeting, intended to discuss modalities for investors to establish their industries in the state.
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The meeting, which brought together development partners, to engage with investors from within and outside the state, elaborated on the various incentives put in place by the Gombe State Government for the prospective investors to take advantage of.
The meeting afforded the participants, made up of development partners, bankers and business owners the opportunity to interact and rub minds on issues affecting investment in Gombe state so that they would be resolved in good time.
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, who was represented by the Commissioner of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Mr. Nasiru Mohammed Aliyu, restated his administration’s commitment to providing favourable environment for potential investors.
He told the gathering that the roundtable meeting was to create a platform to engage with local investors and provide them with the opportunity to explore opportunities for establishing their businesses at the 1000-hectare Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, with a particular focus on the small and medium-scale industries.
“As you are aware, Gombe state is a business hub in the North-East sub-region which provides investment and business opportunities such as a free trade zone to all investors in Nigeria. The Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park is equally established to create a secure and conducive space for trade and investment activities within the confines of the state-of-the-art facility”, Governor Yahaya said.
He encouraged them to take advantage of the structural reforms, world-class infrastructure and the peaceful atmosphere.
He said the incentives were designed to facilitate and make more efficient the process for investors, saying the comprehensive reforms put in place have effectively established a convenient one-stop-shop for the investors.
According to the governor, this will help in eliminating the traditional bureaucratic hurdles and making the process of setting up businesses more efficient and unperturbed.
He explained that the comprehensive reforms initiated by his administration have led to the ranking of Gombe twice as number one in the “Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria” and underscored their tangible impact on fostering a business-friendly environment within the state.
The Gombe State Governor emphasized that the creation of the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park would serve as a remarkable hub for trade and investment and also have the potential to boost both the state and national economies.
The Commissioner of Finance, Mr Muhammed Gambo Magaji, said investors would be guaranteed tax holiday, while at the same time working to acquire an export-free zone license for the park and provide finances for whoever needed them from the banks.
He said the Gombe State Government was equally working in collaboration with development partners, the UNDP, European Union, African Development Bank, ADB, to ensure that the Buhari Industrial Park becomes an agro-processing zone, which is an initiative of the Federal Government.
“Already, Gombe state has been listed as one of the states to be in the 2nd round of the special Agro-Processing zones initiative of the Federal Government,” said Mr. Magaji.
He said so far Gombe State had gone farther than the states in the first group, because the investment in the industrial park had lifted the state to be ahead of those states.
Overall, the Commissioner said Gombe State was open for business and desirous of seeing it move from a civil servant state to an investor’s haven, which is commercial in nature and an industrial hub, “especially with its location in the heart of the North East.”
He said whatever would be produced in Gombe could easily be accessed by the other states in the North East saying could easily be exported.
Mr. Magaji said during Governor Yahaya’s 1st four-year term in office, significant investments were made in infrastructure, which substantially contributed to creating an environment that fosters the growth and success of businesses in Gombe State.
Also, Mr. Magaji said the issues raised during the round table meeting were necessary in order to prepare the state ahead of the 2nd Gombe Investment Summit in November and how the issues would be tackled then.
The Representative of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, one of the key sponsors of the preliminary programmes leading up to the forthcoming investment summit, Mrs. Joyce Oburu, commended the Gombe State Government for the diverse initiatives, such as the establishment of the industrial park, to enhance the investment potential of the state.
She pledged that the UNDP would remain dedicated to forging a collaborative partnership with the state.
According to her, the partnership aims to support Gombe State in realizing its ambitions to fully harness and promote its investment potential.
She said the UNDP’s ongoing involvement would be instrumental in helping Gombe achieve its economic goals and create a flourishing environment for prospective investors.
Others who expressed solidarity with the Gombe state government’s drive towards making the state an investment destination included representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, the Bank of Industry, USAID Statei2-State Programme and numerous commercial banks.
The roundtable was attended by business entities from within and outside Gombe state, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Groundnut Millers Association, and Rice Millers Association among others.
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