GOVERNOR Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has urged foreign businesses to make the state, especially the Special Economic Processing Zone, their destination of choice, while considering investing in Nigeria.
Governor Abiodun, while speaking as a guest on CNBC Africa at the weekend on the sidelines of the Intra-African Trade Fair, put together by Afreximbank, in Cairo, Egypt, said Ogun State has put everything in place to host any business venture.
He said: “We like to refer to ourselves as the Gateway State. We are the gateway to Nigeria’s prosperity. We are the industrial capital of Nigeria. By all accounts, we have well over 5,000 industries. We are the number one in non-oil revenue in Nigeria because we have large mineral deposits, particularly limestone.
“That explains why we have Lafarge, Dangote, and many other cement factories. The biggest cement factory in Nigeria is in Ogun State.
“Now, why are we here (Cairo)? We are here to attract more investors to our state, particularly as we pride ourselves on having the required infrastructure, be it road, rail, or air. We have a new airport, unarguably one of the best airports in Nigeria.
“Our airport is situated in our Special Economic Processing Zone. The zone is being supported by Afreximbank and being operated and constructed by a private sector player called Arise LLP.
“Today, we want people to know about the zone, to come and establish processing concerns and factories in that zone, referencing the 5,000 other industrial activities that exist in Ogun State.”