Stakeholders collaborate to harness south-west investment potentials
NAN-HE-15
Investment
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) Mr Yinka Fatoki, Executive Secretary, Bureau of Public Private Partnership(BPPP), Oyo State, has said that the south west, particularly the state, will soon become a prime destination of investment.
He said this at an investment certification training on “Nigeria Investment Certification Programme for States (NICPS)”, in Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme is facilitated by Department for International Development (DFID), Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission and UKAID.
Fatoki said that the programme would strengthen and enhance the capacity of state governments in facilitating investments.
He said that the programme would help in streamlining the process and have the state certified as a prime destination of investment, alongside others in the south west.
“This programme is a competitive process and will have the states ranked based on the availability of investment environment. It is a big assignment that must be embraced and utilised across MDAs.
“Oyo State is well endowed and located. We are ready to harness the huge potentials we have and make the state prime destination of investment in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Trevor Killen, the NICPS Marketing and Information Standards Consultant from Growth and Employment in States (GEMS), said that the country had huge economy and potentials to harness.
Killen, who is from Northern Ireland, said that the essence of the NICPS was to basically help the DAWN states have better capability and capacity to promote foreign direct investment.
“This will be by improving the state’s ability to provide information to investors, market the state and provide better services, considering their various endowments and potentials
“This is my fourth week in Nigeria. I am delighted being here and look forward to working with Nigeria, especially the DAWN commission states as investments haven,” he said.
Mr Femi Ogundero, the Head, Regional Investment Advisory and Access Bureau, DAWN Commission, said that the programme was facilitated to make the states investor-ready and certified as investment haven.
Ogundero, who described the south-west states as the investment and development hub of the country, said that the they would witness huge inflow of investments if all efforts were galvanised.
NAN reports that the NICPS programme will be held in the six states of the south west region.(NAN)
TAA/IA
Edited by Idris Abdulrahman