Enugu to assemble 1,000 tractors locally by 2025 — Mbah

As part of his administration’s effort to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn and ensure food security, tractors needed for farming in Enugu State will be produced locally before the end of the year, the governor of the state, Dr. Peter Mbah, has announced.

The governor stated this when he received the newly elected president of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, and other leaders of the association at the Government House, Enugu, over the weekend.

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating a business-friendly environment and helping to de-risk investment in the state, calling on investors to key into the growing investment revolution.

“We are ready for business and we are open for business. You could not make a better choice than Enugu when thinking about where to invest or grow your wealth because you are dealing with a government that is business-friendly.

“We not only think about creating the environment for businesses to thrive, but we are also interested in working with you collaboratively, either as a Joint Venture (JV), Private Public Sector Partnership (PPP), or even helping to de-risk the investment flow.

“We are interested in listening to you and knowing what areas would make it possible for you to invest. We have just signed an order with a Danish company that is coming here to manufacture their tractors.

“So, our target is that before the end of the year, we would have assembled over 300 tractors. Our ultimate target in the medium term is to get up to 1,000 tractors before the end of next year.

“What this means is that you would not have to import the machinery and implements you need to farm in Enugu State.

“Again, we are interested in value addition and processing too. We are building a Special Processing Zone where we expect that as we scale up production in the agricultural space, we will also have produce cities where those goods can be processed. It is not just about producing and exporting them raw. We plan to add value, create, and capture that value,” Mbah said.

He added that the government was taking measures to ensure the availability of necessary infrastructure, ranging from urban roads to access roads to farms, power, and water, while also making significant investments in security and collaborating with security agencies to sustain and strengthen the relative security attained by the state in the last 15 months.

“In the area of roads, our target is to make sure that all our streets and all our roads in the city are paved, and we are already achieving that. Recently, we completed the 71 roads we awarded last October, and we have awarded another 141 roads.

“We are also ensuring that our rural roads are paved, most importantly, the access roads to the farmlands because we have an ambitious target in our agricultural sector, where we now have over 300,000 hectares of land in our landbank,” he said.

Mbah congratulated Dr. Okoye, who is also the Managing Director of Juhel Nigeria Limited, on his emergence as NECA President, assuring him of his administration’s readiness to collaborate with NECA to create more economic opportunities in the state.

Speaking earlier, the NECA leadership pledged unwavering commitment to fostering partnerships that will catalyse socio-economic development in Enugu State and the South East, having observed the governor’s vision and business-minded approach to governance.

“We have closely observed your outstanding leadership, coupled with your clear vision for the transformation of Enugu State. Your administration’s focus on economic diversification, infrastructure development, and human capital enhancement aligns perfectly with NECA’s objectives.

“We believe that through strong collaboration between the public and private sectors, we can collectively drive growth, create jobs, and improve the overall well-being of the citizens,” the NECA president stated.