Chief executive officers of the Northern State Investment Companies have converged in the commercial city of Kano to deliberate on a strategy that will enhance the flow of investment into the economy of the region.
The meeting which was organised by Kano State Investment and Properties Limited (KSIP), a private investment window of the Kano State Government, is the second of its kind to be organised in recent time.
According to the organizers’ the event which was held at the Corporate Headquarters of KSIP, was convened to appraise the prevailing investment situation in the region, in the face of the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic.
The organizers also said the meeting was designed to specifically deliberate on issues raised in the previous conference of the chief executive officers, held two years ago in Kano, which focused on the development and progress recorded by the respective companies, as well as to discuss and map out a strategy that will strengthen, and sustain the existing cooperation and collaborations amongst them.
Speaking to BusinessDay on the sidelines of the meeting, Jibrilla Mohammed, the managing director of KSIP, who chaired the occasion disclosed that the meeting also provided an avenue for the chief executives of the companies to exchange ideas on some of the challenging issues which are of mutual interest to all the companies, and provided an opportunity to find an acceptable solution towards resolving them.
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Mohammed hinted that one of the major challenges deliberated upon was the impediments to investment flow in the region, noting that Covid-19 pandemic which forced the lock-down of all relational activities across the globe and caused a major reduction in the overall performance of the investment into states in the region, was identified to be the biggest impediment in the recent times.
The CEO revealed that with the gradual return to normalization the meeting enabled the chief executives of the companies, to discuss the common, and workable solutions to some of the identified challenges that will make northern Nigeria, the preferred destination for institutional and individual investments in the country.
“As you are aware, the KSIP is promoting the coming together of the Chief Executive Officers of the State Investment Companies in the 19th Northern States. The maiden edition of the meeting was held here in Kano, two years ago. One of the outcomes of the meeting was that there is going to be a follow-up, but unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to step it down last year.
“However, with the gradual return to normalization, we believe it is high time to resume where we stopped two years ago. This meeting was convened to discuss, and exchange ideas on how to develop a common strategy that will make the region more attractive for local and foreign investment.
“During the meeting, we jointly appraised the various investment opportunities which are in abundance in each of the states. We also evaluated the area of comparative advantage of each of the states, and one of the outcomes of the deliberation was the possibility of carrying out joint investments/projects for the maximization of the opportunities that will strengthen the existing collaborations, as well as sustain efforts for improving the investment climate of the entire region.
“We also used the occasion of the meeting, to deliberate on the need for each of the states to design a robust investment policy that would guide their investment decisions and to also deepen the appropriate succession plans that would accelerate the growth and sustainability of their companies, among other issues”, Mr. Mohammed explained.
Also, speaking during the meeting, Adum Ter Alex, managing director, Benue State Investment Company Limited, solicited the cooperation of the CEOs on the need to come together and build a powerful regional economic block.
Alex also highlighted the need for the CEOs to establish a common social media platform to be deployed for the purpose of deliberating on issues of common concern, as well as for sharing experiences, in areas of common interest.
In the same vein, he expressed delight with the role which KSIP is playing in driving the process geared at unifying Northern Investment Companies.
The CEO noted the commendable achievements of the company in the area of online trading and property development.
The attendees also deliberated on plans for the second edition of the annual Conference.
Some of the chief executive officers of the Investment Companies that attended the meeting, includes, Rabi Yahaya Ahmad, managing director, Adamawa State Investment Company, Ahmed Ibrahim Karfi, managing director, Katsina Investment Company, Mohammed Bukar Umar, managing director, Borno Investment Company Limited, Adum Ter Alex, managing director/chief executive officer, Benue Investment Company Limited, Aminu Musa, managing director/chief executive officer, Bauchi State Investment Company, and Amina Umar Galadima, Head of Department, Yobe State Investment Company Limited, who represented his CEO.
