Oyo attracts 154 Chinese investors, partners NIPC on business drive

Abiola Ajimobi , governor of Oyo State has restated his administration’s commitment to support the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) in its efforts at promoting investment across the country.

This came on the heels of the revelation that Oyo state has attracted 154 Chinese investors with seven already commencing work at the Free Trade Zone established by the state.

According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Oyo State is currently ranked 4th, up from 24th in 2014, among the most investor-friendly states in Nigeria.

Governor Ajimobi who spoke at a meeting with NIPC delegation led by Yewande Sadiku, the commission’s executive secretary and chief Executive Officer assured that Oyo State was ready to support NIPC’s vision of being a centre of business opportunities in Nigeria.

He revealed that in order to make the state more investment-friendly, his administration established a Free Trade Zone and an industrial park around it to promote investments with the view of turning the state into an industrial hub of the nation.

“The efforts were targeted at China as a country, because we believe that the Asians, especially the Chinese, have value for human dignity and respect for labour,” Ajimobi said.

According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are the top six most investor-friendly destinations in the country in the first quarter of 2017.

The report noted that the five states and the FCT attracted $908.268 million investment in the first quarter of 2017, with 95% of the investment going to Lagos.
A breakdown of the investment for each state revealed that Lagos got $865.718m; Akwa Ibom — $18.36m; FCT (Abuja) — $14.867m; Ogun — $5.351m; Oyo — $3.419m and Rivers — $550,000. The NBS report also showed that the investment inflow is 27.75% higher than what came into the country in 2016.

Sadiku stated that NIPC was committed to working with Oyo State Government in encouraging, promoting and coordinating investments in the state.