The Steering Committee for the maiden edition of the Gombe State Investment Summit says it has received 269 applications from potential investors for the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park.
Chairman, Steering Committee of Gombe Investment Summit, Deputy Governor of Gombe State, Dr. Manassah Jatau, said out of the number, 50 of the applicants were in manufacturing, eight were in the Food and Beverages sector and the remaining 211 were for the Agro-Allied Small and Medium Enterprises.
They would be screened before accepting them.
Dr. Jatau said “the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park had 1000 hectares in landmass, with available incentives for the smooth operations of the investors.”
He said Gombe State had huge potential for the investors, who are being targeted during the summit, both from within and outside Nigeria to come and invest in Gombe State.
The Gombe State Deputy Governor listed the potential of fertile land, and the various dams in the state, such as the Dadin Kowa Dam, the Balanga Dam, as well as Cham Dams, available to support agriculture and its value chain.
According to Dr. Jatau, the Dadin Kowa Dam would supply 40 Megawatts of electricity for the park, with a dedicated power line expected for investors in the park, which will ensure constant power supply in the park.
He said that “mining was another area of investment opportunity, which was readily available for the investors to take advantage of, giving the assurances that security would be guaranteed for them.”
Dr. Jatau said the two-day summit would hold from October 11 to 12 at the International Conference Centre, Gombe.
He believes that industrialisation will take Gombe State out of poverty.
According to a member of the Committee, the Special Adviser to Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, on Planning and Development Partner Coordination, Dr. Ishiyaku Mohammed, said “the summit would be broken into three sessions, while the sectors had been pruned down to just 14.
According to him, the summit was not just about the Industrial Park but has to do with investments in all the sectors of the economy of Gombe State, in which investors could take advantage of.
He announced that the Financial session would be anchored by the former Central Bank Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, while the Promoting Industrialisation would be chaired by the Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Mr. Richard Adebayo, and then the Financing Green Economy Session, to be chaired by the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on Climate Change, Dr. Salisu Dahiru.
He said during the summit, investors would be conveyed to the Industrial Park to see the level of development by themselves.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
