By Felix Khanoba
President Muhammadu Buhari says the Federal Government has taken some major steps to boost confidence of investors in Nigeria’s free trade zones.
Buhari stated this at the the Seventh Annual General Meeting of the Africa Economic Zones Organization, AEZO, hosted by Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority, NEPZA, as part of activities to mark 30th anniversary of free trade zones in the country on Thursday in Abuja.
Represented by Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana, Buhari said a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and Free Zones to foster interagency cooperation.
According to him, the Central Bank of Nigeria is also updating guidelines for banking operations in the free zones which will serve as a regulatory document geared to improve ease of operations within the zones.
Buhari added that the Nigeria Customs Service, another key stakeholder, has also accepted to fully implement the Free Zones concession regarding imports and exports by Free Zone Enterprises into the Customs Territory.
“Additionally, the Directorate of State Security Service has collaborated with both authorities to train personnel of the Special Economic Zones Security Unit in areas such as economic intelligence management,” he said.
He noted that brilliant innovations like the Special Economic Zones Security give confidence to investors and reassure them of the protection of their assets and operations.
Speaking further, Buhari expressed delight that Nigeria’s free trade zones have successfully raised over $45.7 billion in foreign direct investments, almost N1.5 trillion in local investments and created nearly 400,000 direct jobs.
He said the huge investment of over US$13 billion ploughed into ongoing Dangote Free Zone has attracted landmark infrastructural projects that have the potential to transform the Nigerian business landscape.
Also speaking, the President of African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, said Africa’s wealth must no longer depend on exports of raw materials, but of finished value-added products, as the door to poverty is from export of raw materials while the highway to wealth is industrialization.
Adesina also noted that the African continental Free Trade Area, ACFTA, is the continent’s best pathway to prosperity, adding that “To unlock it’s potential, however, we must not just simply trade; we must turn the zone into an industrial manufacturing zone with insuring of manufacturing in Africa.”
“The sector with the greatest potential for industrialization in Africa is agriculture. Africa has 65 per cent of the uncultivated arable land left to feed the world. Therefore, how Africa develops its agriculture will determine the future of food in the world. Across Africa, we must turn cocoa beans into chocolates, cotton into textile and garments and coffee beans into brewed coffee.
“That is why the African Development Bank is investing $25 billion in agriculture across the continent to transform the agricultural sector. The African Development Bank is invested in over $1 billion in the development of special agro-industrial processing zones that we call SAPZs in 18 countries to help to unlock Africa’s potential in food and agriculture.”
On his part, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, said the Free Zones scheme in Nigeria has recorded significant milestones as it has given birth to landmark infrastructural projects that have the potential to completely transform the local and regional environments.
Adebayo noted that the recently-commissioned deep seaport in Lekki, Lagos will become a trading hub while the Dangote refinery will become the largest single trading facility of its kind in the world upon completion.
Speaking further on infrastructures provided by the scheme, the minister stated that “There is another Free Zone project located in Brass, Bayelsa State that can help put Nigeria in a position to become a net exporter of fertiliser.
He said in order to attract foreign direct investment, a truly serious country must provide a truly enabling environment, stressing that government agencies must not be seen as barriers they must be seen as a facilitator and ideally, as partners in progress.
In his remarks, the Managing Director/CEO of NEPZA, Prof Adesoji Adesogba, said Nigeria leveraged on the concept of the free trade zones scheme to offer enabling business environment that has so far attracted about 26 billion US dollars investment and about 625 enterprises operating within those enclaves.
“The Scheme has also within this period created about 150 direct jobs and an estimated 250,000 indirect jobs for our citizens. We hope to enlarge the employment opportunities when the Dangote refinery and the deep seaport becomes operational in a few months’ time.
“So far we have ensured the promotion of economic of scales which helps enterprises produce at lowest possible costs throughout parallel to sensitives and other support policies,” he said.
