The German government has expressed its eagerness to strengthen economic cooperation with the government and people of Enugu State, especially in agriculture, energy, trade, and investment.
The industrial giant said it chose Enugu State as one of its three business and investment destinations in southern Nigeria, given its findings on improved ease of doing business under the Dr Peter Mbah led-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 a 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 to increase and deepen our conversation about 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 from the Nigerian media and through our office that Enugu State and its government have improved a lot in terms of structuring process to get business easier done to improve the infrastructural basis for joint engagement.
“We are 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 States. So, this is why I am here to get our cooperation on a higher and more intense level,” the envoy stated.
Appreciating the Germans for choosing Enugu State as one of their economic partners, Governor Peter Mbah said his administration was ready and willing to partner with the German government and businesses.
Though high, Mbah emphasised that the $30bn GDP target his administration set for itself was realisable through private sector investments and international cooperation, adding that Nigeria’s much-needed economic growth could only come from the states, not the centre.
“I want to express our deep appreciation for selecting Enugu as one of the three southern states you want to partner with.
“We are excited about this 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 an unprecedented point. If you look at the target, we set 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 a compounded annual growth rate of 27 per cent. Still, 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 the top to the bottom. I have always advocated 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 agriculture, energy, trade and investment opportunities.
“We see agriculture as one of the major sectors we can use to grow our economy rapidly. For us, agriculture is beyond food security.
“We are also putting together the Special Agro Processing Zones to meet our consumption needs and begin to package for local market and export. The ultimate goal is to be able to develop this 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 and building a cargo terminal to facilitate exports.
Still on agriculture, he said the state had acquired about 300,000 hectares 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 state’s extensive work in institutional strengthening, progressive policies, and improved regulations in the electricity sector through partnership and investment.
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