African Development Bank (AfDB) has reiterated its commitment to invest in Enugu State’s infrastructure and other projects that will attract development to the state.
This was even as the president of Skipper Seil Group, a renowned engineering, power and infrastructure company, Jitender Sachdeva, lauded Governor Peter Mbah, over the positive steps he had taken in the energy sector.
He promised that the company would assist the state to develop its infrastructure.
Speaking at the Government House, Enugu, yesterday, during a courtesy visit to the governor, the director general of AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, Lamin Barrow, said Nigeria is strategic to the development bank’s programmes, stressing that phase one of some of the programmes, especially in the area of Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) which was about $18 million had been approved.
He said the African foremost development and financial bank is in the process of rolling out the second phase which will integrate the needs of Enugu State government, adding that “I am here to discuss with the governor of Enugu State on the programme for the state”.
Barrow said the phase 2 of the programme will support the implementation of the SAPZ project the state had already undertaken, pointing to agro-allied crops such as cassava, maize, among other strategic staples where the state has comparative advantage.
According to him, “What the SAPZ is doing is to help develop value chains for these crops, adding value to primary crops, help in reducing post-harvest losses, developing strong linkages with stakeholder farmers, training and creating financial support for the farmers’ activities but most importantly driven by anchor private-sector investors”.
The DG of the AfDB also said the bank would assist the state in de-risking investment flow in its efforts to strengthen and enhance production, stable and high yielding income, and drive agricultural produce beyond food security to export for the state and Nigeria in general.
On his part, Skipper Group president stated that his company had already concluded with the governor to construct the green special agro-allied industry zone which also falls within the AfDB’s programme.
He said the infrastructures it was collaborating with AfDB to step up will facilitate the ease of doing business in the state and ensure self-sustained green electricity for each factory operating in the state.
Responding, Governor Mbah expressed excitement over the choice of the AfDB and other development partners in selecting Enugu State for the second phase of the Special Agro-Processing Zone, saying his administration had already committed a huge capital in the sector and would be ready to explore the opportunities AfDB was presenting to the state.
He assured the AfDB DG that Enugu had fulfilled all the pre-conditions for the project to take off, adding, “I want to inform you that Enugu State is ready and we have prepared all the prerequisite documentations, and all the surveys you need to be able to get started with this project. We have done the environmental and social impact assessments. We have identified a sizable land that will host a Special Agro-Processing Zone, putting aside over 1000 hectares very close to the city that would be used for the Special Agro-Processing Zone. We have also done the feasibility studies”.
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