President Muhammadu Buhari has noted that Kaduna State Government has been consistent in hosting the annual summit since 2016 with remarkable success.
The president who was represented by Hajiya Maryam Katagum, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, gave this commendation in a goodwill message at the 7th edition of Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KadInvest 7.0).
‘’KadInvest has had remarkable success in demonstrating the investment potentials of Kaduna state, and the openness of its government to embrace and implement necessary reforms to promote economic competitiveness,’’ he said.
The president commended the efforts of Governor Nasir El-Rufai for making Kaduna state the investment destination of choice in Nigeria, adding that ‘’these efforts have received just recognition in the response of the business community which has brought new investments into the state.’’
Buhari argued that the success of sub-nationals in attracting investments, creating jobs and increasing their Internally Generated Revenues is critical to the success of the entire country.
‘’The state’s commitment to consistent implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Charter is exemplary, including its ability to quadruple its IGR to N52bn in 2021 from N13bn in 2015, without hiking tax rates,’’ he added.
‘’I have closely followed the strides Kaduna state has made since 2015. It was my honour to commission the Olam Hatchery and Feed Mill project in 2017, about 18 months after the ground-breaking was done at the first edition of KadInvest in 2016.
‘’It is commendable that investors are creating jobs in the agribusiness sector, taking advantage of Kaduna state’s prioritization of agriculture,’’ President Buhari added.
He noted that investments have poured in for the state from other sectors ‘’like ICT, pharmaceuticals, renewables, automobile assembly, housing, retail and mining, especially iron and steel.’’
The president also praised the Public Private Partnership dairy project between the Kaduna State government and Arla which aims at addressing concerns around food security.
According to him, the partnership will improve ‘’livelihoods while developing a pathway to resolving socio-demographic tensions that we continue to work towards eradicating.”
“The ongoing development of iron mining and steel processing capacity in the state through investments by African Natural Resources and Mines Limited is especially commendable,’’ he added.
