Obiano repositions Anambra as investment hub, attracts $520m in one week

The efforts of Gover­nor Willie Obiano to reposition Anambra State as the new in­vestment hub in West Africa are beginning to yield amaz­ing results as the state at­tracted $520 million invest­ment last week.

The investments came largely into the two key areas that make up the governor’s Four Pillars of Development, namely Agricul­ture, Trade and Commerce. The other two Pillars are Industrial­ization and Oil and Gas.

What is currently looking like Anambra’s day in the invest­ment began at midweek with a tripartite agreement which the state government signed with the management of Delfarm Limited and Songhai Regional Centre from Benin Republic for specific agricultural projects val­ued at $200 million (about N15 billion). This was followed up at the weekend with another agree­ment with a consortium known as the West Africa Interconti­nental Trade Centre Ltd., which signed for the construction of an International Modern Market to be located in Ogbunike, Oyi Local Government Area at an estimated value of $320 million for the first phase of the project.

These two agreements have moved the government very close to its projected investment inflow of $1.9 billion before the end of this year. So far, Anam­bra has attracted almost $1 bil­lion in investments in the last six months averaging $100 million investment per month. These investments justify, in concrete terms, Governor Willie Obia­no’s reputation as an entrepre­neurial banker and a technocrat of note who understands the ter­rain of high-wired business and the best steps to bring the invest­ment world to his doorsteps.

In real terms, the Delfarm Limited/Songhai Farms project is expected to generate 150,000 jobs and cut down the rate of unemployment in Anambra and the neighbouring states. The agricultural project is a fully integrated framework that combines agriculture, technol­ogy, industry and services with a sustainable working system and seeks to create training and empowerment centres for the youths. On the other hand, the proposed International Market in Ogbunike is designed to ac­commodate an ultra-modern shopping mall, an industrial park, education and medical fa­cilities as well as a modern en­tertainment centre. The project will be executed in phases with the first phase creating about 6,000 jobs and 12,000 indirect jobs.

Anambra’s rising profile as the haven for investments in sub-Saharan Africa actually began in May this year when the Coscharis Group made a massive entry into the state’s agricultural sector with $200 million investment in a farm settlement, (the Coched Farms Project) in Anakau, Ayamelum Local Government Area. Since then, Anambra has continued to attract investors as the Obiano administration digs in to force through its reform programmes that are intended to lift the state up to its rightful position as the home of entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since the arrival of Coched Farms, other agro-investors have followed suit. Joseph Agro Limited, Ekcel Farms Limited had penned down a $150 million agreement to take over the lucrative Omor Rice Mill and farm settlement, while Ekcel Farms had signed $100 million for the produc­tion of cassava and tomato in the state. Grains and Silos Limited has also signed another MoU valued at $11 million for a Silos project and finally, Del­farm/Songhai Farms have also moved in. Other investors like Royal Farms and a host of oth­ers are all in line to move into Anambra. There are also talks about a high-level collabora­tion between the Anambra State Government and some agricul­tural authorities in Bangkok, Thailand, that will finally divvy up Governor Obiano’s prom­ised agricultural revolution in Anambra State. The state has also attracted investments in the area of tourism with Cardinal Developers and Trust Limited leading the charge in that sec­tor with a considerable financial outlay.

Right at the heart of the in­vestment revolution in Anam­bra State is the pivotal role of the Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA), which is staffed with seasoned invest­ment bankers and financial experts. This agency has made the process of documentation and other otherwise tedious processes of doing business in Anambra State look like a walk in the park. This has encouraged prospective investors who are familiar with the huge markets and great human capital that Anambra has in abundance.

It would be recalled that flagging off this year’s farming season in a ceremony at Nteje, Oyi Local Government Area in May this year, Governor Obi­ano had firmly set the agenda for his agricultural revolution. Underscoring the importance of agriculture to Ndigbo in his speech at the event, Obiano had recalled: “From time imme­morial, our ancestors judged a man by the strength of his arm. A man who could not feed his family was regarded as an eful­efu! A failure! That tells us how important farming and agricul­ture in general was and will al­ways be to our people.”

Written by James Eze , SA Media to Obiano