Districts
By Jessica Dogo/Kabir Muhammad
Abuja, July 30, 2018 (NAN) The Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Bello, has solicited strategic private sector participation and partnership in the development of district infrastructure as well as low cost housing in the territory.
Bello said this at the ongoing 3rd Abuja Investment Expo, at the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Hall, International Trade Fair Complex, on Monday.
According to him, the territory cannot achieve meaningful success without participation of the private sector.
“The multiplier effects of investments in these areas will not only energise the FCT’s economy, but will also raise its commercial profile as well as create jobs and lift the standard of living of the residents,’’ he added.
He commended the ACCI for setting the pace in property development with the Novare Gateway Mall, which was developed in collaboration with a foreign investor.
Bello said that this was in addition to the Chambers’ six-floor headquarters and 10,000-seaters convention centre situated at a strategic location in the Abuja International Airport.
The minister, represented by his Chief of Staff, Mohammad Mai-Borno, said these structures had helped to improve the outlook of Abuja city landscape.
He said the administration needed strategic partnership with the private sector in the form of public-private-partnership projects, particularly in district infrastructure development and low cost housing.
“Only you can carry our clarion call to foreign investors as well as form business alliances, which will bring foreign partners into Abuja,’’ he said.
He, however, said that the FCT Administration had earmarked about N70 billion in the 2018 budget to help improve infrastructure development and public utilities both within the capital city and the satellite towns.
Bello said efforts were also ongoing to improve the city’s transportation, through the development of the next phase of the Abuja light-rail project.
Responding, the ACCI Chairman, Mr Adetokumbo Kayode, called on the government to introduce favourable policies in the forms of special tax breaks.
He said the government should also lower interest rates to ensure that investors did not pass the cost of development to the consumers.(NAN)
JEZ/KM/OFN/AFA
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Edited by Felix Nwadioha/Felix Ajide