Why we’re investing in Nasarawa, by businesses

Local and foreign investors in Nigeria have said Nasarawa State became a leading choice for investment largely because of its consistent business-friendly policies, and the strong government support.

The investors also cited the level of security in the state, proximity to the nation’s capital, huge mineral deposits, and population size.

They spoke on Thursday at the 2022 Nasarawa Investment Summit in Lafia. Investors shared the experiences they have investing in the state at one of the plenaries, titled ‘Project Nasarawa: from roundtable to ground-breaking.’

“Our investment in Nasarawa State couldn’t have been possible without strong government partnership, policies, initiatives and security. It is a very encouraging environment for investment,” John Coumantaros, chairman of Flour Mills Nigeria, said.

He said the company would deepen its investment in the sugar and cassava value chain which will create more than 50,000 direct and indirect jobs in the next couple of years .

Ade Adefeko, vice president, corporate and government relations and stakeholder management at Olam Nigeria, said the advantages were sustaining Olam’s over $120 million investmet in the state, adding, “We are very happy and we are very proud.”

Makoji Aduku of Onshore Frontiers Limited said a major source of attraction for his company was the quality of limestone, marbles and other mineral deposits in the state, which he described as “equal to none”.

“The stones in Nasarawa are sold in the Nigerian market; however, the market will describe them as Brazilian equivalent. Nasarawa is blessed with world solid minerals. The era is not near for the solid minerals in Nasarawa State to finish. The ability to move these solid minerals into the international market would be the biggest achievement for us investors in this business,” he said.

He described the government and people of Nasarawa as “very welcoming.”

Read also: Security, friendly policies key to boosting investments in Nasarawa

For Abdul-Malik Mahdi, managing director at Modern Shelter, the various businesses reforms put in place by the Abdullahi Sule administration attracted him.

He said: “When this administration came in, with the posture of business, the ease of doing business, and the quality of professionals that were brought on the table to encourage investors into the state, we quickly came together, formed a consortium with some people from Nasarawa State to see how we can take advantage the of these existing opportunities.”

Yahya Yahaya, Chief Executive Officer, The
Mall company, said the population of some specific locations, and most especially the support of Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency, made investing in the state easy, and helped address some of the major challenges investors often face in states.

He said: “It is our job to identify viable economic clusters. We found that the good people of Nasarawa State, especially the Karu axis, Mararaba, new Nyanya, are densely populated. We thought this community deserves a retail and recreational company. Karu is not only viable but promises its investors stable and sustainable returns on investment.

“For a sector like ours, we need multiple stakeholders from and we also work with different agencies of government. But the challenge for us is having to engage a plethora of government ministries and stakeholders.”