Deveast, a non-profit economic advocacy foundation, and its partners have embarked on a long-term project to champion the economic development of Eastern Nigeria. On March 12, the development partners will gather experts across the South-south/southEast to discuss the Eastern Nigeria Economic Corridor, the foremost economic bloc in Nigeria.
The workshop is themed 2021 Eastern Nigeria Economic Outlook: Envisioning a New Economic Corridor. The event, according to organisers, will be held in partnership with several economic actors including chambers of commerce, professional groups in the former Eastern Region and will feature professionals across several fields, but especially key focus sectors like oil and gas, critical infrastructure including transport and logistics, telecoms, shipping, manufacturing, human services.
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Collins Onuegbu, founder of Deveast, said, “There are 11 states in the South East and South South regions of Nigeria. As an economic unit, this bloc has a GDP of $111 billion – creating an Economic Corridor that is one of the biggest in Africa. This corridor also hosts the oil/gas industry that has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy for the past 50 years. Its population of about 75 million makes it the fifth largest populated country in Africa after Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and DRC.”
Continuing, he said, “Its small landmass means that there are 75 million people in an urbanised small landmass that are connected. There are at least 10 midsize cities in the bloc and tens of tertiary cities, creating a connected bloc that is reachable by road in about three hours end to end. Its connection to the Atlantic Ocean makes it easy for the development of an integrated transportation system that includes roads, ports, rivers, and airports, both local and international.
