All is set for the second edition of the Anambra State Investment Summit, where the State Government says it will showcase projects that have been developed from conceptualization to bankability for potential investors to invest in.
The summit, which will be held at the International Conference Centre in Awka on November 14th, 2024, follows the first edition held last year, during which the state signed up for initiatives.
This was disclosed during a world press conference in Awka jointly organized by the Anambra Investment Protection and Promotion Agency, ANSIPPA, the State Ministry of Industry, and the State Ministry of Information.
According to the Managing Director of ANSIPPA, Mr Mark Okoye, the governor clearly understood what he wanted to achieve, as captured in his manifesto and the Anambra 50-year plan, especially in the areas of infrastructure, energy sufficiency, agriculture, innovation, tourism, and industrialization.
He noted that this made the governor repurpose ANSIPPA from a supply-driven agency, where investors come with their plans, to a demand-driven agency, which focuses on the projects that the governor has promised the people.
He revealed that the ANSIPPA now works with all line Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs and takes projects from conceptualization through the different levels to where they become bankable so that investors and Development Financing Institutions, DFIs, can see the bankability.
Okoye recalled that the first investment summit saw the governor sign a few projects, including a feasibility study for the Anambra Industrial City, for work to start on the rail masterplan, with a funding agreement with AFREIXIM bank for the completion of the Awka Shopping Mall, the Oma vehicle assembly plant, and others in the areas of Agriculture and Power.
“Over the last 12 months, extensive work has been done. And one year after, the governor wants to use the summit to give account and updates on the signed projects,” he said.
The ANSIPPA boss said at the upcoming investment summit, the projects that have been taken from conceptualization to bankability stage, will be showcased to investors for expressions of interest.
“The summit will host a lot of Anambra investors, businessmen and industrialists, representatives of DFIs, a delegation from the federal government, and many others.
“It is not just a talk shop. The takeaway is to ensure that the state has a database of investors on the debt and equity sides that have interrogated the different projects showcased and have committed to making investments and shown how they intend to do so.
“The new projects to be showcased will include the Anambra Industrial City, the Rail Masterplan, the New Awka City, the new city that will be built on the banks of the River Niger, the 10-storey hotel to be sited at the Anambra International Conference Centre, the Solution Innovation District, among others.
“The governor will also be speaking to the Anambra Development and Investment Corporation, which is an entity whose draft bill is being transmitted to the Anambra State House of Assembly for onward passage.
“ADIC will be the platform upon which all the conceptualization and investment management strategies will be accomplished, while the ANSIPPA will now maintain its role as a promotional agency,” Okoye posited.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Industry, Mr Christian Udechukwu, said the summit aims to update the state on its current state and signpost all investors and Anambra people on its future.
Highlighting the seriousness with which the government is approaching the initiative, Udechukwu emphasized that only projects ready for immediate development with starting and completion dates will be showcased that day.
He also clarified that only investors who are ready with their money, have clarity on their technical capacity and competencies, and have proof of funds to start the project once the signature is put to paper and delivered on schedule will be entertained.
The Commissioner also said at the summit that people will see a new economic sector that will create wealth opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors, both local and foreign, in the solid mineral and oil and gas areas.
He says, “The summit comes at a great time when Anambra is ranked number one in the area of ease of doing business in all of Southern Nigeria and number 7 nationally. We are also number one in fiscal transparency and performance, the most viable in resource management, doing more with less, SMEs support and friendliness in terms of support, and many other positive feats.”
For his part, the State Information Commissioner, Dr Law Mefor, said the summit underscores the fact that the state’s development trajectory has to follow the pathway of Public-Private Partnerships, PPPs.
According to him, all the fiscal resources required to drive development in the state are with the private sector, and Governor Soludo is deploying his experience in economic concerns to harness the sector’s potential.
