The Idu industrial hub located in Abuja has the potential to drive industrialisation, boost exports, create employment and increase investment inflow into the country. But it has lost its lustre.
As the name suggests, one would expect the industrial hub, located within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), would be busy with deafening noise from factory equipment and machinery. But an on-the-spot assessment by BusinessDay showed that the road leading to the area and most connecting roads were in a sorry state, and most of the companies that used to operate there had left.
The hub was designed to attract industrial clusters into the nation’s capital but its deplorable condition has stifled any possible opportunities as factories and offices shut down due to bad roads, poor electricity, and security concerns, among others.
As an industrial layout, it has many offices, factories and service centres such as the Abuja train terminal, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, the Nigeria Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, Alibert, May & Baker, Coca-Cola, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Zeenab Foods, and Eagle Aluminium.
BusinessDay observed that the place was quiet, with at least 10 sites empty as many once-thriving firms have shut down their operations and abandon their investments in that location.
The layout currently has just a few companies, as BusinessDay noticed many dilapidated buildings with signposts of companies that formerly occupied them and their premises overtaken by weeds. A significant part of the area is also covered by overgrown grasses and is used as farmlands.
Despite its huge potential to create job opportunities and drive production, the layout has suffered severe neglect over the years and has remained in a deplorable state causer by bad roads, poor power supply, and security concerns.
A major problem at the industrial layout is the lack of adequate infrastructure. The road leading to the industrial layout and most of the connecting roads are in disrepair.
The government’s failure to supply and distribute sufficient electricity has left manufacturers at the mercy of alternative energy sources such as petrol- and diesel-powered generators, which gulp 40 percent of the total production cost, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
In January 2020, Dikko Umaru Radda, the then director general of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria, had announced the federal government’s plans to convert the Idu Industrial Centre to a furniture and wood enterprise cluster.
The choice of Idu as a pilot followed a study to ascertain the viability of industrial centres in the country.
Radda had assured that the cluster project expected to help cut down foreign exchange leakages from furniture imports would meet all the standards required to have a world-class cluster for furniture and wood production. However, it is not clear what is being done, as BusinessDay found during the visit that the place remained a shadow of itself.
Okey Andrew, who runs a furniture outlet in the Idu layout, said he planned to shut it down because “it is no longer a viable venture”.
Speaking on the challenges encountered while doing business there, Andrew cited poor road infrastructure, low patronage and fear of insecurity.
“I’m already making plans to leave this place soon. I spend so much to keep this place running but the income is very low because there are no customers; so I need to close this down and concentrate on my other office in Wuse which serves me better, seeing that I have more customers there,” he said.
He said whenever he came around, he was often scared of staying late because of the bushy area and abandoned buildings that could serve as hideouts for criminals.
BusinessDay also visited the phase two of the industrial hub, which is relatively newer and houses companies and government agencies like National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), MyTv, and Lafarge Cement AEPB Wupa Sewage Plant.
There are several other offices and factory buildings still under construction at the phase two of the industrial estate.
A security officer at NAPTIN told BusinessDay: “Our office is far from town but the roads are very good. You cannot see unwanted visitors here.”
Another source told our reported that they hoped that the new minister of the Federal Capital Territory would visit the phase 1 of the estate and rework the roads and facilities.
According to the FCT Inland Revenue Service, only about N200 billion is being generated by the FCT. The FCT Administration recently highlighted the need for more investments while seeking to increase the annual revenue to over N750 billion.
Tony Ejinkonye, former president of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and director of business development, Africa at Esilkroad Network LTD, had told Businessday that the concept of Idu Industrial layout was good but that the government got it wrong from the beginning because most of the land there were not allocated to industrialists.
“If you do further findings, you’ll find out that most of those at the industrial layout now got the land through a second source, from people who got the initial allocation. This inevitably pushed up the cost of production for most of the industries there,” he said.
He said the government should intervene and put in place policies and incentives to attract more industrialists to the area.
“If you dig deeper, you’ll find out that there are all sorts of taxation there by the municipal authorities who also disturb truck loads carrying out industrial goods and services. There are what we call industrial clusters which ought to have electricity, infrastructure, and other basic infrastructure that will drive industrial purposes for wealth creation,” he said.
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Like the Idu industrial hub, two designated special economic zones in the nation’s capital have failed to develop for over a decade since their establishment.
BusinessDay visited the Abuja Technology Village and observed that there was no business activity going on there. Established since 2009, the zone was projected to become Africa’s preferred business destination for activities ranging from research enterprise, creation development, commercialisation, and outsourcing across four focus sectors: agric/biotechnology, information and communications and technology, energy technology and minerals technology.
The zone also has the potential to develop a solid knowledge base that will contribute to the country’s efforts to reduce Nigeria’s economic dependence on hydrocarbon resources while directly addressing the consistent national development agenda of job creation and wealth generation.
Despite these huge potential, the zone has remained under-developed and is being overtaken by weeds, offering a grazing site for animals.
Similarly, the Centenary City free trade zone approved in 2014 is still not developed. It was conceived to be a smart city as seen in Dubai, Monaco and Singapore, and sits on 1,260 hectares of virgin land, five kilometers from the international airport.
The Nigeria Export Processing ZOnes Authority said the project, when completed, would attract foreign direct investments worth over $18 billion and create direct 250,000 jobs, attract foreign and local investments, promote world-class urban infrastructural development, boost leisure and entertainment in Abuja and its environs.
BusinessDay inquiry into the slow take-off of these zones revealed that investors were still trying to address infrastructure gaps. Besides, there are still lingering legal and political issues between the Federal Government and Centenary City on registration and constitution of the Board of Trustees and other challenges yet to be rectified.
