Mbah Woos Multinationals With Opportunities In Enugu

Enugu State Governor Dr Peter Mbah has assured prospective multinational corporations that his administration will work with them to create an enabling business environment, de-risk investment flow, and ensure a bountiful return on investment (RoI).

The governor listed abundant opportunities and incentives in various sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, mineral resources, logistics, aviation, tourism, real estate, mineral resources, and ICT.

For the first time, the state joined the league of a few states that multinational corporations are more likely to expand to, according to the survey presented by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Committee, PEBEC.

Mbah gave the assurances during the Second Existing Foreign Direct Investors Roundtable at the Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja, saying the state had curated many projects to bankability.

Speaking at the Roundtable, which attracted over 90 existing multinational corporations in Nigeria, including Dow Chemical, Microsoft,  the Nigerian-French Chamber of Commerce, the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, the Euro Chamber of Commerce, the Indonesia-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Corporate group in Nigeria, the governor reiterated his administration’s ambition to grow the state’s economy sevenfold to $30bn in the next six years, hence the deliberate effort to make it the premier destination for investment, business, tourism, and living.

He also maintained that the growth Nigeria seeks as a country would happen from the peripheral or subnationals, hence the massive steps by the Enugu State Government to build infrastructure, ensure the security of lives and property, and enhance the Ease of Doing Business.

“For us in Enugu, we know that the investment will not happen because we wish it to happen. We recognise that we need to work closely with prospective investors to see how we can help them create the enabling environment and de-risk the investment flow.

“We curated quite several projects across different sectors to bankability. So, if you are coming to Enugu, we will present you with opportunities that you may not need to spend so much time doing detailed feasibility because we have done full feasibility of most of these projects. You can take these possibilities to the bank.

“We have also been able to invest hugely in infrastructure because, given my business background, I understand that businesses are not charity; they are not Father Christmas. They are interested in returns on investment.

“We have had quite several Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs) that have been coming to Enugu in the last year, and we have made this work mainly by getting involved with them to understand fully how we can work with them to de-risk investment flow.

“In some cases, we provide the offtake that they need to make that entry, and we have had quite a few companies enter Enugu as their first entry point into the country. And so my job here today is to encourage all of you to understand that Enugu is open for business. It is in our DNA to work with you to ensure that we work out a structure that makes sense for the business,” he stated.

Mbah further listed other incentives such as the existence of the Enugu State Investment Development Authority as a one-stop shop for prospective investors, the existence of federal regulatory agencies in Enugu, and the launch of Enugu State Geographic Information System Services, ENGIS, which had reduced Certificates of Occupant processing time to 72 hours.

“We will review your application and ensure you obtain all the necessary licenses and approvals.

“When it comes to construction permits and, of course, procuring your title documents, if you are interested in land, that also happens seamlessly.  In Enugu, applying for your title document and getting issued your title document takes 72 hours through our Enugu State Geographic Information Systems.

“Some weeks ago, I also signed the Land Use Regulations, which enables an applicant to monitor and benchmark the service provider based on the number of hours,” Mbah added.

Meanwhile, presenting highlights of an empirical study by PEBEC, its Director-General and Technical Adviser to the President on FDI, Princess Zahrah Mustapha-Audu, listed Enugu for the first time among the few states that foreign investors were interested in expanding to.