Oyo will protect investors’ interests with strong legislation, Makinde assures

…hosts delegation from AfCFTA

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said that his Administration will protect the interest of investors such that a change of Government will not impair their investments in the State.

“I know that political risk is something that most investors don’t want to deal with. While I am here, I believe we have the opportunity to lock things up for the next 25 to 30 years and back it up by law. We have a legislative arm that is on the same page with the executive in terms of how to develop our state.”, General Makinde assured investors through Wamkele Mene, the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The governor, who gave this assurance while playing host to Mene, who was in Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital, over the weekend, said, “Oyo State is central in the geography of Nigeria and that of West Africa. We share a common border with the Republic of Benin, which means we have access to the West African sub-region in terms of developing the market.”

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Speaking on the comparative advantage of the State, he said, “We are upgrading our airport in Ibadan to an international standard. Why we took that decision is not far-fetched. In Africa, you have three major airlines that go everywhere. The largest is Ethiopian Airlines, followed by Kenyan Airlines and Rwandan Airlines. Oyo State is bigger than Rwanda, but they have an airline that goes everywhere. Nigeria is in the centre geographically. So, how come we are connecting through Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda or Morocco? Wherever you are going, you first go Far West or the Far East, and then you try to connect elsewhere.

“We felt because of the geography and in terms of how much is spent on fuel and trying to connect, if we develop a Kigali-type of airport here in Ibadan, we may be able to attract people who don’t have too much time to waste connecting.

“The air side will be ready in September; the terminal itself will be ready in the second quarter of next year. We have a land that is arable; you can literally grow anything here. In terms of agribusiness, we have a competitive advantage. We also have a competitive advantage in terms of solid minerals. This is a major lithium belt. We believe that we can also develop that quickly.”

The governor also said that the state plans to turn the Rasidi Ladoja Circular Road axis into a world-class environment, a city that would be planned to international standards right from the outset.

He said, “We just set up a new authority in Oyo State through which we are trying to have new towns and cities developed to international standards, a first-world environment. The Circular Road is a 110-km road around the city of Ibadan, and we have another 4,000 hectares in a new city, which we believe will be up to international standards. We have the opportunity to plan it right from scratch.

“The first segment of the Circular Road will be ready before the end of the year. It will be ready for concessioning as well with all the real estate around it.”

The AfCFTA Secretary General, who was accompanied by his Executive Members as well as some investors, lauded Governor Makinde for growing the economy by over 4%, saying the performance was greater than that of the average country on the continent.

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“We see the average growth rate across the continent being 3 or 3.5 per cent. To scale up above that is a testament to your leadership. I think it helps that you came from the private sector, you have a sense of getting things done”, he noted.

Speaking on the essence of the visit, Mene said, “We discussed this visit a few months ago when the governor and his team visited the secretariat. It was the first time that we hosted a governor.

“The purpose of our coming here is first to consolidate the collaboration between the AfCFTA and Oyo State. Second, it is for us to be aware of what investment opportunities are available in the State.

“It is very important for us to be aware. Just last week or the week before, we were in South Korea. We have a Memorandum of Collaboration with the Korean International Trade Agency, and all of the large Korean corporations are members. We meet about twice a year, and the question they always ask us is: Where should we invest? There are big companies that have no presence anywhere in Africa. What we have been telling them is that they have to invest in Africa.

“So, this is a very important visit because it gives us a very strong investment case to make when we meet with those who are seeking to invest.

“Another reason this meeting is important is that yesterday, we had to give a report to President William Ruto on African Union climate change, and we mobilised all of our development finance institutions. The President tasked me to bring them to the table so that we can jointly identify opportunities to invest in green infrastructure, agro-processing, etc.

“We came out of that meeting with a long list of bankable projects and an investment portfolio that will be spread across the continent.

“So, where Oyo State is able to say that ‘we are well positioned to support the establishment of a green industrial technology sector, we have the capability for solar or renewable energy’, those kinds of projects would be supported through this syndicated financing that we are agreeing to with the development financing institutions that I have mentioned.”

Neo Tlhaselo, Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on International Trade and the AfCFTA, while speaking earlier, said Oyo State is ready to optimise the opportunities available in AfCFTA.

Read also: Makinde upgrades infrastructure in Oyo with dualisation of roads

She noted, “The success of AfCFTA will not be defined by declarations but by deliverables. Oyo State is known for being a pacesetter. We are privileged to be working with a governor who is such a visionary and who is an implementer. So, we operate at the sub-national level where good governance is applied and production is encouraged.

“We are bold and confident that Oyo State is investing, reforming and innovating because we believe that the ease of trade in Africa begins at the sub-national level. I really want to thank His Excellency Mene, who said to us when we were in Accra, ‘I am taking this seriously.’ We will like to thank you for your support, we will like to thank you for sharing the vision with us of ensuring that Oyo State accelerates as intended.

“We will continue to create an enabling environment for our economic players, the private sector, to trade and export with ease. We will create an enabling environment that will attract strategic partners and investors.”
The AfCFTA and its team later conducted rounds of some key state projects in Ibadan by the governor and other state functionaries.”