The Yobe State Government has completed the construction of modern markets and a truck transit park as part of efforts to boost trade and commerce, create jobs and increase the state’s internally generated revenue.

The projects include four ultra-modern markets and five modern markets located in Potiskum, Nguru, Gashua, Damaturu and Geidam, a border community with Niger Republic. Four additional modern markets are strategically sited in Machina, Ngalda, Yunusari and Buni-Yadi.

The Commissioner for Information, Abdullahi Bego, disclosed this while leading journalists on a three-day guided tour of the facilities. He said the markets were designed to reduce the need for traders to travel to Kano and Lagos to procure household goods and other wares at cheaper prices.

Unveiling the completed markets in Machina, the Commissioner for Housing, Ahmed Buba, said the projects would significantly boost commerce and trade across 10 local councils of the state.

“The new markets included five ultra-modern ones and four modern markets to boost commerce and trade,” Buba said, adding that they would generate thousands of jobs for youths and women across the benefiting areas.

Bego said the markets initiative formed part of the state government’s strategy to diversify the economy by expanding the revenue base and creating employment in different sectors.

He added that, beyond revenue generation and job creation, the markets were deliberately designed to provide a conducive environment for business activities in the 10 local councils.

According to him, the ultra-modern and modern markets also align with the administration’s agenda on economic diversification aimed at repositioning Yobe as an economic hub in the North-East. Bego further said the markets could strengthen cross-border trade with neighbouring landlocked countries, including Chad, Cameroon and Niger.