Bayelsa Woos Investors For Industrialisation

BAYELSA State Government has unveiled a package of incentives for investors willing to take active part in its local economy. According to the government, the incentives include institutional framework, infrastructure, tax holidays, legal support, skills development and a comfortable environment.

The State Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Investments, Kemela Okara, who made this disclosure at a forum with business executives in Lagos, ahead of the second Bayelsa Economic investment Forum, said diversification and industrialization are the main focus of the state, hence the need for private sector participation in its economy.

He said the state would build on the success of the maiden edition of the forum by its collaborations with investors in critical areas like oil and gas, agriculture and power.

“From the success of the maiden edition last year, which established our credibility as a choice investment destination with an array of lucrative business opportunities, we are leveraging on this outcome at the second economic summit to welcome serious investors into Bayelsa State. The state government has already created a stable and business friendly environment for the would-be investors in areas such as infrastructure, tax holiday, attractive Private-Public-Partnerships models and a well-run institutional framework through the investment vehicle, the Bayelsa Investment Promotion Agency (BIPA),” he said.

He said the state would direct attention of investors to areas of comparative advantage in relation to national needs, adding that oil and gas, agriculture and power generation could be areas of attraction to investors.

“Bayelsa State has the largest deposit of natural gas in the country. So we are recommending power generation to investors with a view to adding about 5000 -10, 000mw of power to the national grid. We are also interested in mechanize agriculture, with all the natural endowments in the state as major incentives, especially in our oil palm production, rice processing and many others. This is why we are bringing together large-scale farmers to tap into the huge potentials in the state. So the Bayelsa Eeconomic Summit is all about building a private sector driven economy to create jobs and industrialise. We are open for business.”

According to the commissioner, MoUs had been signed with major business establishments, including the N20 billion Kesio Building Materials market, which has about 5000 stalls to create a cluster for people in that segment of business, just as billions of naira had been disbursed  to further boost the medium and small scale enterprises in the state. The state, he said also signed MoUs with investors in area of in power generation, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, agriculture