Governor Siminalayi Fubara has inaugurated the much-awaited Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency (RSIPA) with a mandate to return the state to number one investment destination.
The mandate was equally given to a man versed in the economic dynamics and financials of the state as adviser in many capacities and commissioner for finance to being a consultant.
The governor admitted that the state had derailed in economic competition but urged the team to fight and bring it back as leader.
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Fubara restated that the resolve is stronger now than ever to create the climate conducive for growth of agriculture, manufacturing, small and medium enterprises, and key services because they were the productive sectors that would put Rivers’ economy on a competitive pedestal.
The governor, therefore, charged members of the maiden Governing Board of the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency (GBoRSIPA) to streamline their activities in such a manner that will attract real investors across critical sectors so that the state can become self-sustaining, comparatively.
Governor Fubara gave the charge when he inaugurated members of the six-man Board at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Those inaugurated were Lawrence Fubara Anga as chairman; Chamberlain Peterside, as director-general, and Tamunoibuemi Life-George, who is to serve as secretary. Others include, Goodliffe Nmekini, Havey Ideozu, and Baritor Lenusikpugi Kpagih.
Fubara lamented the slide by the state in the perking economic order saying the attendant expansion and population growth were not maximally managed.
“The purpose of this agency is to give our people – to assure them, that Rivers State can still come back to that enviable position that it once occupied. Those people that were doing business in Rivers State that left, for one reason or the other- that they can still come back.
“We want to see people who intend to come back and invest because Rivers State is blessed – it has oil, the most important item for development today, which is gas, in abundance.”
Responding, Anga noted that investors’ monies have choices.
“No matter how potentially attractive a business proposition is, where there is insecurity, where there is confusion, where there is bureaucratic bottleneck, investors will run away because they have choices.
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“And, one of the things your administration is trying to do is to restore security, safety of lives and property; security of tenor, when you buy land, you know that your title is secured because without security of tenor, you can’t get a loan.
“These are the things your administration is doing, which will go a long way to achieving the goal you have set. I am happy, this is a brand new agency, and we don’t have any excuse. What comes out; we are the ones that will shape it,” he said.
He went on: “We are not just looking for people to bring their money from outside. It’s been proven time and again that if the owners of the place don’t invest, outsiders will not come to invest. And so, your charge to us is to make Rivers State attractive for Rivers people. And when Rivers people invest, the whole world will come and invest. That is our task, and we will strive to achieve it.”
