From Esther Akaa, Lafia
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), Barr Ibrahim Abdullahi has disclosed that the agency has attracted about $500 million worth of investments into the state for the past two years.
Barr Abdullahi, who stated this at a press conference held in Lafia recently, said the agency was able to attract the huge investment portfolio worth $500 million due to the state government’s policy of entrenching Public Private Partnership (PPP) in all its dealings.
According to him, state government chose the PPP policy and invited the private sector to partner in developing the state because they are the better managers of risks, capital and businesses, noting that the result in the past one year has been a plethora of investments in different parts of the state which has attracted millions of dollars.
“We have closed 13 Public Private Partnership projects. We have implemented 8 significant business environment initiatives and this has attracted over $500 million in investment both domestic and foreign, in key sectors of the state.
“We recently signed a PPP agreement to develop the Nasarawa Technology Village to help build the state as an emerging centre for digital economy. Also in the health sector, we signed three PPP with the private sector.
“We signed a joint development agreement to develop the Karu retail and development centre to have Shoprite, a retail giant in Africa as the anchor tenant. We have welcomed a plethora of investors and investments into the state which has made the state a hub of investments worth over $500 million,” he said.
He further stated that the agency had also attracted investment in the agriculture sector, specifically, rice production, sugar production and cassava among others.
“We are positioning Nasarawa state as the premier destination for agri business in the country. It is very gratifying to see that Nasarawa state has become a top investment destination in the country,” he said.
The MD said the state government’s creation of the NASIDA was a deliberate effort to create an enabling environment for private sector and businesses to operate in the state and so far, in the past one year since the commencement of operations of the agency, investment into the state has multiplied.
“NASIDA as an agency is a critical piece in Governor Abdullahi Sule’s aspiration to improve the economy of Nasarawa state through increased private sector participation and so far we have managed to do the needful in attracting investments,” he said.