Abiodun: We are committed to making Ogun a destination of choice

The Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed that the state is irrevocably committed to ensuring that it becomes the investment choice of the country and the world. Gov. Abiodun reiterated this oft stated position in Lagos Thursday at a programme organized by the London Stock Exchange in conjunction with PwC Nigeria to launch a report ” Companies to Inspire Africa 2019″.

The Governor said that his government believed that no government has the “monopoly of funds” He explained that a consortium of banks and other willing investors had approached the state for a chance to build the largest Creative Arts and Entertainment village in the state and we obliged.

“We also appreciate the fact that no government has the monopoly of funds to engender a wholesome and sustainable development; we recognize that for the successful implementation of building our future together agenda, which is our mantra, we have to collaborate and partner with other stakeholders, especially the private sector,” he said.

Abiodun also noted that the vision of his administration was to give the state a focused and qualitative governance and create an enabling environment for Public Private Sector Partnership, which he said, would be fundamental to the creation of an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the state.

The governor further disclosed that his administration had mapped out a practical approach to engender a public private partnership that would enhance a symbiotic relationship between the government and the private sector. His administration, he noted, is irrevocably committed to making the state an investment choice of destination not only in Nigeria but in Africa.

Abiodun stated that his administration was also committed to positively engaging unemployed youths in the state through the launching of a job portal that would accommodate both the skilled and unskilled youths, adding that the state was prepared to tackle the menace of unemployment.

In attendance were captains of industry and diplomats, including the deputy British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, representative of Lagos State Governor, former Minister of Investment, Trade & Industry, Okechuwu Enilama; Director General, Security & Exchange Commission (SEC), Oscar Onyeama; and the country senior partner, PwC Nigeria, Uyi Akpata among others.

The PwC helmsman noted that the expectations of most people was that Ogun state gets transformed as the government in the state was under the leadership of a proven private business entrepreneur who had being able to transform his own private business. ”I told him that the expectations aligns that we see Ogun State similarly transformed, aligned in the sense that it will just be four folds beyond what you did in the private sector,” he said.

On the theme, ” Companies to inspire Africa program, Akpata said that the program was an opportunity to celebrate the 97 Nigerian companies featured in the 2019 edition of the Lagos launch, adding that the edition would identify some of Africa’s most inspiring growth businesses.

In his remarks, the Co- Head, Emerging Markets, International Markets Unit, London Stock Exchange Group, Ibukun Adebayo said that the country was miles ahead of South Africa in terms of the number of companies listed in the 2019 edition, noting that the country has 97 companies registered as against the 23 registered by South Africa in the companies to inspire Africa report.