In the last seven years, Kaduna state Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said his government has attracted a total investment portfolio of $4.488 billion in actualized and announced investments, and has created 75,750 direct and indirect jobs.
Speaking on Saturday in Kaduna at the 7th edition of the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KadInvest 7.0), which began on Thursday, the Governor stated that the state government has also been providing a conducive environment for the private sector to drive the economy through numerous policy actions and reforms, including the hosting of the yearly Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KadInvest) since 2016.
El Rufai, who gave a summary of his administration’s accomplishments since its inception, explained why investors should invest in Kaduna state, citing an abundance of natural resources, a productive workforce, consistent economic growth, and the state’s location as the gateway to the northern market.
“Kaduna state is also the most improved state in the World Bank’s 2018 Ease of Doing Business Subnational report, and it has a very investor-friendly environment,” he added.
El Rufai went on to say that the state “is also Nigeria’s third largest consumer market, the third most populous state in Nigeria, and has 52% of Nigeria’s consumer market.”
“Kaduna state, on the other hand, is rich in mineral resources, with over 25 non-oil mineral deposits, including gold, iron ore, and marble,” he added.
The governor also listed some of his administration’s major accomplishments, including raking in N52 billion in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) last year, up from N11 billion when he took office in 2015.
El Rufai also stated that the remodeled Murtala Muhammed Sqaure, which now has world-class sporting facilities, shopping malls, restaurants, and various recreational centers, was commissioned this year.
He recalled that during his January state visit, President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned “some road projects of the urban renewal programme within the Kafanchan Municipal Authority and Zaria.”
“The president commissioned the Infectious Disease Centre in Mando, LGEA Primary School, Lokoja Road, Rigasa, the new Kawo-fly over bridge, which has dual carriageway, three ground rotaries, Aliyu Makama Road in Barnawa, and the Leventis Underpass,” he said.
“KDSG has handed over Zaria Pharmaceuticals to private investors who will produce syringes, intravenous fluids, and specimen bottles,” said the governor. The redesigned company is expected to generate 200 direct jobs and over 1,000 indirect jobs.”
According to him, the government has begun the “third phase of loan disbursement to women entrepreneurs under the Kaduna State Women Empowerment Fund KADSWEF 3.0.”
“This year, Barnawa’s Technology City was inaugurated, with CoLab Innovation Campus serving as the anchor tenant. “The AMA Medical manufacturing facility, a plant built to produce intravenous fluids, was also commissioned,” he recalled.
The first of three planned distribution hubs in the state, Zipline’s operations for instant delivery of medical consumables to health facilities, was commissioned at Pambegua, he added.
“KDSG signed a technical and management service agreement with Doctors Clinic Company of the United Arab Emirates on the 300 bed hospital,” El-Rufai added.
“It also signed an agreement with Elekta to purchase equipment for the hospital’s nuclear medicine and oncology center.” This will increase the country’s capacity to treat cancer,” he added.
Justifying the theme of KadInvest 7.0, “Building a Resilient Economy,” the governor stated that government must be innovative, especially “in the aftermath of the global economic slowdown and to sustain reforms into the next Administration.”
El Rufai believes that states should “begin to innovate and become more resilient to global economic shocks, as well as begin to harness their comparative advantages to increase internally generated revenues and job creation in order to withstand these crises.”
