Emmanuel emerges governor with best economic blueprint in Africa

Governor Udom Emmanuel has been nominated as the Governor with the best Economic Blueprint in Africa. 

The award will be presented to him during The African Regional Journal (TARJ) Forum and Trade Fair (Luanda 2022) by the West African Regional Magazine at InterContinental Hotel, Luanda, Angola. 

With the theme: “The Significance of Unity-in-Diversity in the Integration of Africa”, the event will be held during this year’s listing of 100 inspiring individuals in Africa, with a focus on promoting made-in-Africa products and connecting African businesses.

A statement by the organisers reads: “Emmanuel’s visionary leadership, with a business-inclined disposition and private-sector approach to governance, is contributing factor to the transformation of Akwa Ibom into an enterprise state. 

“This was captured in a blueprint that offered an amenable roadmap to achieving renaissance along the routes of job creation, wealth creation, poverty alleviation, infrastructural consolidation and expansion and eco-political inclusion.” 

A letter, addressed to the governor by Ambassador Rossette Aliu Squire, states in part: “Upon assumption of office, His Excellency, you set up a remodelling committee to engender a social contract and a technical committee on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to promote, midwife and enhance the flow of investments into Akwa Ibom. 

“The result is a horde of firms, including the largest syringe manufacturing factory in Africa, electrical digital metering solutions manufacturing factory, rice mill, coconut oil processing plant and flour mill, to mention a few. 

“Added to the volley of strategic partnerships, the result is the emergence of hundreds of businesses, and thousands of jobs with ripple and multiplier effects that phenomenally impact the livelihoods of Akwabomites and Nigerians. You created a uniqueness of the investment environment of this enterprise state that allows for the evolution of capsuling in some very capital-intensive industries that have either comparative advantage, absolute advantage or technological advantage.” 

The awards organisers maintained that every part of the state has been uplifted under Emmanuel’s leadership, including the healthcare sector, infrastructural, education, and many more, adding that the state is, indeed, emerging into an aviation hub with a viable airline, and a modern smart terminal building almost completed.