How I attracted $1.7 Billion to Anambra as Nigeria’s investment destination of choice –Ekwunife, ANSIPPA boss

Mr. Joe Billy Ekwunife is the managing director of Anambra State Investment promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA.),
a special purpose vehicle established by the state government to facilitate the industrialization process of the state through helping prospective entrepreneurs overcome the hurdles of infrastructure and land title constraints.

In less than ten months of its establishment, AN­SIPPA under Ekwunife has attracted over $1.7billion investment in various sectors of the state’s economy, a development officials believe will raise its internally generated revenue to about N2.5billion per month over the next few months from about N1bilion cur­rently as well as facilitate job creation for Nigerian youths.

He explained that recent survey had shown that the state moved dramatically from occupying the 32nd position in business friendly environment ranking to about 15 per cent, assuring that the steady rise was bound to continue until it becomes the number one in­vestment destination in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

This is because, ahead of the full implementation of the Federal Government’s Economic Trasnsformation Agenda and the automotive policy, the state is already home to several huge investments in automobile assembly plants and a couple of other investments in the agricultural value chain.

Ekwunife stated that ANSIPPA which came into being through a law passed by the state House of Assembly, achieved the feat of getting land titles for investors coming to set up businesses in the state within 6 to 8 weeks, as opposed to over two years in parts of the country.

In this interview with Daily Sun, the ANSIPPA boss explains the philosophy behind the agen­cy and efforts being made by the Obiano administration to achieve its lofty objectives.

Excerpts.

Our history

ANSIPPA was inaugurated by Governor Willy Obiano in May 2014. We started in a one-room office in a hotel but later moved to its present location in October after it was commissioned by the Governor.

As a special purpose vehicle, (SPV) the law establishing ANSIPPA was passed by the Anambra State House of Assembly in April 2014. That was about the first assignment the Governor undertook because we believe the agency is a very strategic and key component of our administration’s 4 pillars of eco­nomic development, comprising Agriculture, Industrialization, Trade and Commerce and Oil and Gas with other enablers like education, security and all that. If you observe, the Gov­ernor on coming on board tackled the state’s security challenge and within weeks and months, Anambra became relatively free of criminals and hoodlums. At least people who visited home from other parts of the country for last Christmas holidays all testified to this. As a matter of fact, Obiano doesn’t even want to take credit for that because he believes that was what a governor should do ordinarily.

But what makes it worthy of mention is that hitherto, security was so bad in Anambra State that even sons and daughters of the state were afraid of coming home because of all manners of criminal activities plaguing it.

However, we have now seen that this singu­lar achievement has boosted what we are do­ing in ANSIPPA, which is to attract, promote, manage and protect investments in the state.

We have been effectively in operations for about seven months and through the active leadership of the governor, ANSIPPA has been able to attract investments to the tune of $1.7 billion which cut across various sectors of the economy.

If you want to break it down, I can tell you that we had about $600 million in investment in agriculture, and close to $400 million in industrials, while oil and gas and power sector accounted for close to $350 million. In other sectors like hospitality, real estate, we have attracted close to $300-$400 million.

Today we are signing two major Memoran­dum of Understanding which will bring about $150 million in investment in vehicle assem­bly plant and liquefied natural gas distribution. We believe this will help industries bring down their cost of production. If all these projects are implemented, it then means the industrial clusters will reduce the cost of powering their plants by at least 30 percent. So, we appreciate the governor for his vision which is also in tandem of the vision and mission to make Anambra the first choice investment destination in the country which is now beginning to materialize.

It is very important to note that beforeA N­SIPPA came into being, Anambra was number 32 in terms of investments destinations among the 36 states of the federation. But lately though not fully confirmed, unofficial reports indicate that since the onset of Governor Obiano’s administration, we have moved probably to number 15 from 32. This is more so because ANSIPPA has a board that is made up of world-class economic council. It’s an 11- man board but the beauty of it is that within , we have five key commissioners and ministers on the board. We have Commissioner for Lands, finance, trade and industry, economic planning and budget and the Attorney General as members of its board.

It was deliberate and very visionary of the governor because all these sit to appraise all the projects and all of them have had to make input into whatever we are doing. We have what I call one-stop shop agency where all the relevant to project approval are done really quickly without the inhibition of any bureau­cratic bottleneck

For instance in other states or prior to set ­ting up of ANSIPPA, it takes an average of 18 months to get a Certificate of Occupancy, but now, if you come here and you want your C of O that will enable you bring investment to the state and employ our youths, if you have a piece of land and it passes the generic assess­ment in ANSIPPA, it will take 6-8 weeks for you to get your C of O. It’s unprecedented in Nigeria. This is because the governor has the vision of a private sector operator to improve the state in all ramifications and has decided to set up ANSIPPA to fasttrack the processes. You can see where we are, that we’re not in the secretariat where people carry files about without achieving tangible results. That is the image of the new Anambra State we are building.

Number of projects on ground

I can count them. It’s between 10 and 15 so far but I can tell you that I receive an average of 120 proposals every day. I can also tell you that we are so professional that sometimes, we have 120 proposals and 111 of them are not good, which means we are very selective. But once you meet our policy requirements, we can tell you that it will be given express treatment.

Some of the MOUs we’re signing today, we made first contact with those involved in December and we’re signing it in late January. That is the speed with which we pursue these proposals because my board meets twice a month, largely to consider proposals and review the ones we have. So, I can say that we have handled between 12 and 15 projects with total amount ranging from $400 million to $300, 200, 50 and so on. When you add all of them up, it’s over $1.7 billion.

Message to potential investors/allaying fears on security

Governor Willy Obiano has done a marvelous job in the area of security and he took it for granted and said that’s what he ought to do. So, what he has done here in just seven months will be celebrated for over three or four years in others states. But we are excited that the confidence of the busi­ness community is back in the state. Most of the investors, that is Ndi Anambra have now developed enough confidence to bring their partners from overseas to come and invest locally. So, the assurance is there. I Just spoke with some friends a short while ago, people brought their families for the yuletide celebrations last year, stayed for many weeks and there was no single incident of kidnap­ping or criminality in the entire state because the criminals know that the government will always go for them and dislodge them. If you pass through Onitsha for example, you see the beauty of that commercial city. You’ll see the cleaned up environment which has helped rebuild the peoples’ confidence in the state and government. So, what am I telling people the world over is that Anambra is safe. Anambra is secure. Social media and internet is now busy telling the whole world what is happening in Anambra State. I get a lot of mails, calls, SMS about what is happening in the state. We have a governor whose paramount interest is to safeguard the lives and property of the citizens. In fact, people are scrambling to see how they can join the fray. So, the state is secure and safe and I’m telling them same too.

Power

I’ve just told you we signed MOU about seven weeks ago on a power plant that will produce 80 megawatts of electricity. Re­member the entire country is running on about 3,000 megawatts. The 80 megawatts will be spread around the industrial clusters. All these will soon happen. It’s a question of time. All the MOUs have between 18-24 months imple­mentation time. We’re doing another power project that is going to run on gas. Some will run on solar. These will be put at the farms to irrigate them, and around the clusters. It may take a while but once they come onboard, power issue will be a thing of the past. It will be available, full and affordable. Nigerians are willing to pay for services that are good and so if you give them uninterrupted electricity, they will be willing to pay. Where it becomes a problem is when you don’t provide the service and you try to charge them. We believe our government is on the right path which is also the treason it has been able to attract investments covering sectors like power, oil and gas and agriculture which is one of the main pillars of the state’s eco­nomic development. Anambra today produces about 60,000 metric tons of rice annually and we consume over 370,000 metric tons of rice, so there is a gap of almost 300,000. So, with the three major rice produc­tion MoUs we’ve signed, once they come on stream, we’re going to produce about 320,000 metric tons. With that, the gap is already closed and the state will become a net exporter of rice to other states in the next one or two years.

So, the governor chose his pillars very well and is pursuing them vig­orously and that is why I can assure you that the power challenge will eventually be solved. It has to be solved through IPPs. If we rely on government, we won’t do that and because of the confidence potential investors are having on Anambra, they are beginning to come and look at power, oil and gas, putting infrastructure in place because power is key to optimal performance of these projects and lower the cost of production.

Location of the projects

There is one of the projects at Ozubulu focusing on industrialization while the agricul­tural projects are located towards Awka North, Ayemelum where we have massive land. To do a major agriculture project, we’re talking of about 1-2,000 hectares of land. You’re talking about 4 million plots. One thing the governor has done is that through the agricultural implementation, they have mapped out these areas. We now have them partitioned. The areas that will grow rice, the area that will grow tomatoes, the area that will be used for industrialization have all been mapped out. If you come to trade and industry, they are building a major market in Ogbunike. It is a very hi-tech modern market that will gulp up to $350 million. That way, you don’t have to fly to China. The market is so developed and computerized that everything you want is there. The clusters are spread all over the senatorial zones because there is committee that mapped out the areas suitable for certain crops or projects. So the locations are Awka, like Awka Capital Development Au­thority; another location is Ozubulu, Nnewi and all that. The ACDA is charged with ensuring standards in building development. They have mapped out the areas that will be for highrise, the areas for low buildings, areas for commercial purposes, schools and other development stan­dards. So you can’t come now and start developing in Awka. All these are in progress and in the next one or two years, if you come to Anambra State, it will be total transformation entirely.

Why we’re expanding into auto industry

Yes! The state is a leader in auto related activities in Nigeria mainly by being importers of vehicles. Apart from Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Limited that is into production, we don’t have much in production. In any case, this company we’re signing MoU with today is not doing only production of cars and buses but in fact it is doing tractors that will serve in agricultural projects, that is talking about earth-moving equipment used for road construction and other com­mercial activities. So they will be producing those heavy duty machin­eries that we normally import into the country, when they commence operations full blast. With that, they will be helping other companies and business interests. At the end of the day the aim of all these efforts is Jobs! Jobs!! Jobs!!!.

We have discovered that job creation is paramount to engage our youths so that they can disengage from crime. These projects will also grow the state’s socio-economic fortunes.

For instance during the construc­tionphase, we are going to hire at least 200 direct employment for the Ndi Anambra. When it has fully ma­tured, we’re going to create at least 2,000 direct jobs and you know that for every direct job you create, you created at least four indirect jobs. Look at the agric sector for example, at the end of the day, we’ll create at least 150,000 jobs for the youths. Part of the plans is to make you (the investor) commit to the commu­nity through the Corporate Social Responsibility. You devote certain percentage of your profit to the de­velopment of schools, provide bore­holes and all that for the community where you operate. It is part of what I do here. If you’re not going to do that, then it won’t work because I won’t put your structure into place. The host community where you are operating, you’ve taken their land. You must have some form of deal to compensate them. For instance, if they are producing cassava, pro­vided that they met your standards, you must buy all that the cassava they cultivate. You must give them seedlings where necessary, you must encourage them. So, with this plan, you give everyone a sense of belonging, create employment in the process and develop the economy.

Next investment plan

The governor has the plan to build a cargo airport in Anambra around Umuleri. The land is there already. Remember Orient Petroleum is located there as well. They have oil wells. We are looking at having refineries. Those are the areas in oil and gas. If Orient Petro­leum is producing oil, gas and then aviation fuel, that will be a good development. Remember some international airlines go to Ghana to refuel but when ours is operational, they can come here to refuel. So, we are looking at various areas of investment and development. We’re looking at introducing value chain in agriculture. One thing is to produce but another is to provide the storage so that after the season of the crops, you still have the goods fresh to consume and sell. The usual challenge in agriculture in Nigeria is poor storage facilities. Two or three months after the harvest, we don’t have the means to preserve the farm produce and soon they go out of season and we start afresh again. So, we’re looking at value chain in all these sectors that investors are com­ing into. By value chain I mean that you’re producing cassava which you are converting to starch. We are also looking at waste management and recycling. So, the waste from the cassava and the farm generally are going to be collected and converted into cheap sources of energy or power. These are some of the things that will come in the second stage of our investment plan.

Orient petroleum

They are producing at low capacity at the moment. They are refining about 2,000-2,500 bar­rels a day. They have the capacity to push it up to 55,000 barrels per day and you know Anambra State has a very tiny equity. Besides, it’s a pri­vate investment. Through ANSIPA, we’re looking at ways of cooperat­ing with them, see how funds will be attracted from either international donors or sources or other outlets so that they can expand. They have good potentials. They have many oil wells and they have tapped only less than 1 percent. They have full gas reserve and all these are going to be exploited. They are looking at so many options. The governor inau­gurated a committee on oil and gas recently headed by a well known oil man. They are looking at ways of helping Orient Petroleum live up to its potentials.

Incentives to investors

Aside giving them lands, we do all documentation about perfection of the land and all that. All investments in Anambra via the PPP comes with Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that drives that transaction. When you acquire a plot of land in a good location say at about N1.5 million and you require 20,000 plots which is 1,000 hectares. We’re not going to give you at the rate of N1.5, multiplied by 20,000 because that is over N2 billion. Some of these things are weighed and reduced or waived. They are part of Anambra’s contribution to make these projects a reality. We also assist in tax relief where necessary and all that. Like I said, we have a one-stop shop where you come in and sit in the comfort of this office, I will do all the leg work and documentation that within days, all the paper work is ready. That will save weeks and months of tracing and carrying files from office to office or from ministry to ministry. These are the things that make Anambra unique in terms of investment attraction. If we tell you that we’ll conclude in 60 days, we try to even deliver in 50 days.

State’s equity in the projects

Yes our equity is the land we have provided because in some places we have taken 5 per cent and in others 10 per cent equity.

We look at the infrastructure we have provided in these MoUs because it takes about N90million to N100million to do one kilometer of road and if you do about three kilometers you would have invested about N300 to N400milion. Those are the things we value in addition to other intangibles the state govern­ment is providing to come up with the actual equity the government is putting into these projects.

Partnership with Chinese

I wouldn’t say we are partnering a lot with Chinese but these are people with special skills that made Nigerian businessmen to think of bringing them because they have special skills. But the MoUs we have so far signed cut across investors from America, Europe and Chinese. As a matter of fact by next week we will be receiving 35man strong Thailand Trade Mission and Business delegation coming to Awka to hold discussions with the government and business commu­nity. We are also looking at South Africa and businessmen from across the world.

Project continuity

There was a law establishing ANSIPPA which was passed by the Anambra state House of Assembly and it’s a law that will outlive the present administration. So whatever we are doing with ANSIPPA is covered by law and investors would be rest assured that we are not existing by a government fiat but by a law duly passed by the state assembly. There are certain things we cannot do because we are regulated by a law passed by the State House of Assembly.

By Amechi Ogbonna and Mercy Ezeanozie