President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has urged state governments to prioritise the creation of an enabling environment to attract more private sector investment.
The business mogul, who spoke on the sidelines of the recently-concluded Nasarawa economic summit in Lafia, said there is no state in Nigeria that is not blessed with resources, which could serve as potential for industrial growth.
According to him, there is a need for states to look inward and put in place favourable economic policies that would promote investment generation within the states.
“When states provide an enabling environment, it will incentivise the private sector to invest and it will be a win-win situation for both the state and the private sector”, he explained.
He cited Lagos State and Lekki Free Trade Zone, stating that the ease of doing business created by the state government had motivated private sector operators to establish companies within the area, thereby adding value to both the state and nation’s economy.
In the same vein, he pointed out that Nasarawa state government was able to attract the Dangote Sugar Plc multi-million dollar investment into the state due to its efforts to transform the state into an investment friendly region.
Dangote, while speaking during the opening of the summit reiterated that various economic policies including the land reform put in place by the Nasarawa state government were necessary for promoting socio-economic development and improving the quality of lives of their citizenry.
Dangote commended the state governor, Abdullahi Sule for providing the necessary enablers for the investment summit to achieve its goals.
He listed the enablers to include: provision of a focused leadership and well thought out institutional framework that enables the creation of sustainable conducive business and investment climate.
According to him, it was not enough to develop a credible and comprehensive plan that identifies investment opportunities and projects but also backing these proposals with supportive policies and regulations that make these investment opportunities competitive.
“Here is the good news, I can say with confidence that Nasarawa State has in place all the three requirements that promise to guarantee the attainment of the goals of this summit. First, I can say, with all humility, that the state has the leadership with the vision and commitment to achieve it,” he said.
