Gov. Ganduje’s Address At The Lagos – Kano Economic Summit
Loading ...ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF KANO STATE, DR. ABDULLAHI UMAR GANDUJE (OFR) ON THE OCCASSION OF THE OPENING CEREMONY OF LAGOS- KANO ECONOMIC AND INVESTMENT SUMMIT HELD AT JUBILEE RESORT, EPE, LAGOS ON 28TH FEBUARY, 2018
Courtesies
It is with great pleasure that I join my brother, the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, in welcoming His Excellency, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON to this momentous and historic occasion – the first Lagos-Kano Economic and Investment Summit.
I wish to equally welcome the members of the Federal and State Executive Councils, members of the National and State Assemblies, our respected traditional rulers, His Highness, the Emir of Kano and the Oba of Lagos, Captains of Industries, Diplomats, Investors, Development Partners, Resource Persons, other guests and members of the press.
The idea for convening this Summit was considered desirable in cognizance of the fact that Kano and Lagos State have similarities in terms of population size, commercial activities and rich cultural heritage. The similarities have brought to bear a long standing business linkage between the two States through commercial, industrial activities and agro-allied exchange.
I must express my gratitude to the Lagos State Government for partnering with us to host this joint summit which is the first of its kind with the theme: ‘’States Partnerships as a tool for Sustainable Economic Development’’ coined to provide enabling platform to further stimulate economic growth for our States and by extension the nation at large. This noble idea of partnership is therefore well timed and in tune with the Federal Government’s Medium-Term Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) whose broad strategic objectives of restoring growth of the economy, investing in the Nigerian people and building a globally competitive economy by encouraging and creating an enabling environment for investment.
Against this premise, Kano State sees this summit as a mechanism for building trust, cultivating mutually beneficial relationship and boosting economic prosperity of our people.
It is apt to stress that partnership and engagement such as this is the best tool to mitigate global economic uncertainty by building stronger relationships where information flows including shared insights and extended collaboration. I must say at this juncture that stability, openness and common understanding encourage investments.
I am optimistic that this forum will generate perspectives and best practices that will develop well-informed agenda for the economic transformation of Kano and Lagos States. In the same vein, it will showcase viable Brownfield and Greenfield investment opportunities and further develop the future prosperity of businesses and institutions of the people of Kano and Lagos.
Mr. vice President, Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, when talking about Kano economy, I am glad to report that we are blessed with abundant opportunities such as:
● Large population size which could be harnessed in functional education that relates to agriculture and other areas;
● Large expanse of fertile cultivable land covering over 1,754,200 hectares;
● Abundant water resources with over 58 man- made water reservoirs and natural lakes and rivers with a total surface area of 56,583 hectares sufficient for irrigation, fish production and even hydro electricity;
● Large stock of livestock including sheep and goats;
● Kano’s Location, population and role in the Trans-Sahara trade contributed to its leading position as the Center of Commerce;
● The largest single grains market in the whole of Africa, supplying industrial agro-allied raw materials and food items;
● Large deposit of solid minerals that include Silica Sand, Gold etc;
● We have approximately 1.6 million Micro-Small-Medium enterprises;
● The city is host to over 400-500 manufacturing enterprises with leading sub-sector in leather tanning, seed processing, rice milling and animal feed production;
● There exist Free Trade Zone and Industrial Estates;
● The people of Kano have a rich cultural heritage that provides enormous tourism and hospitality potentials with a large number of tourist sites that dates back to 7th century;
● We have well serviced road networks connecting directly to neighboring states of Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina, Bauchi and strategically positioned as a transport route to many African cities by road;
● Kano and Lagos were used as yardstick with which Nigeria was assessed by World Bank in the ease of doing business hence, the report for 2018 has placed Nigeria at the 145th position better than the 169th in 2017;
● Kano was rated high for increase in transparency by publishing all relevant regulations, fee schedules and pre-application requirements on line;
● Kano State has Keyed into the National Action Plan (NAP 2.0) for the 2017-2018 developed by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), whose reform cycle is designed to detail 11 key reforms in the business environment that are capable of impacting the Nigerian economy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, each of these strengths not only makes Kano a great place to live, but an attractive partner for investment, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Despite the huge successes recorded since our assumption in office in May 2015, particularly in infrastructure development, agricultural value chain, youth empowerment, governance and public financial management, we remain very keen in using partnerships to leverage in working together in cross cutting issues that are critical to economic development of our state.
This summit therefore provides a veritable platform for dialogue with public and private sector players for bringing about socio-economic development and growth in the economy through investment and enterprise, particularly in the face of the volatile nature of oil revenues and low level of internally generated revenue by most States of the federation.
It has therefore become necessary for us to redefine our investment climate, align our State’s policy thrust and priorities in view of the current economic realities in the country and as well, find alternative source of financing the State’s resource gap that will address critical sectors deficit and also improve public service in a sustainable way.
In line with the state policy drive to go into partnerships and equally attract both domestic and international investors, we will be glad to partner with prospective investors, with a view to addressing the prevailing resource constraints and complement our efforts in financing some specific priority areas such as:
● Infrastructure
● Agricultural Value Chains
● Solid Minerals
● ICT
● Commerce and Industry
● Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
● Tourism
● Governance and Institutions
Ladies and gentlemen, I must state that apart from the Federal Government incentives, Kano State has put in place additional reliefs for investors that include:
● Land for the construction of both industry and staff quarters to any willing investor in the rural areas.
● Long lease on land for industrial development
● Facilitates ease of doing business for investors and
● Offer of Tax holiday.
In conclusion, let me assure you of our desire to continuously come up with more favorable policies that are investment friendly.
Finally, on behalf of the good people of Kano State, I wish to extend our appreciation for the attendance of Federal Government and particularly Mr. Vice President and partnership of Lagos State, ‘’the Center of Excellence’’, for hosting us “the Centre of Commerce” and equally thank everybody for accepting our invitation. I therefore look forward to very fruitful presentations and discussions in the course of this all-important and historic summit.
Thank You.
