The Kogi State Government says it has commenced processes leading to establishing a special economic zone with the status of a free trade zone in the state’s Ajaokuta economic development corridor.
Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, who was on a working visit to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Dr Olufemi Ogunyemi, in Abuja on Tuesday, sought the support of the NEPZA management to make the proposed special economic zone, which was conceived over ten years ago, a reality.
The Governor, who was accompanied on the visit by top officials of the Kogi state government, said the establishment of a special economic zone in the state is necessary to harness the abundant natural resources and maximise the state’s economic potential, given its strategic location as a connecting point between the north and the southern part of Nigeria.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Ismaila Isah, yesterday noted that Kogi state is endowed with numerous commercial quantities of solid mineral resources, arable land for agricultural production, and top-quality human resources that are waiting to be tapped with the establishment of a special economic zone.
The governor stressed that the proposed special economic zone would transform the state into a central hub for financial activities and create thousands of jobs for Nigerians.
He assured that all that is required on the part of the state government would be put in place as soon as possible to ensure the realisation of the project.
For his part, the Managing Director of NEPZA, Dr Olufemi Ogunyemi, said the authority would support the Kogi state government by activating processes that would lead to the timely approval, licensing, and other assistance the state may require to secure the establishment of a special economic zone.
Dr Ogunyemi commended Governor Ododo for handling infrastructural development, worker welfare, and the state’s security of lives and property.
Recall that, in line with procedures for establishing the proposed special economic zone, the Kogi state government had earlier allocated three thousand hectares of land in the Ajaokuta economic development corridor for the project to be funded through a Public-Private Partnership arrangement.
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