Mohammed Shosanya
This year’s Ondo Investment Summit will focus on energy, gas, tourism,blue economy and agriculture.
The chairman of the summit, who is also the state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Engr. Razaq Obe, told neesmen on Wednesday that the state is targeting investors who would explore the untapped natural resources in the state.
He explained that the deep seaport, which the state has got the licence to build and operate, is one of the major sectors the state is yearning to engage investors who would partner with the state to build.
The summit tagged: “Develop Ondo 2.0,” which would be declared open by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would assemble captains of industry at The Dome, Alagbaka, Akure, to interface on the theme: “Developing Possibilities” from July 24 to July 26, 2023.
According to him, the focus of the state is to attract Investment into the state that would complement the existing ones and also help build the local cottage industries as well as mop up the unemployment market.
On the desire for Investment in energy sector, the commissioner said that the state government has already mapped out the state into different cluster offtakers in order of their demands.
He added:”We are going to exploit the new bill on power assented to law by President Bola Tinubu which granted right to states to generate and distribute power for the development of our state.
“Though we already have communities which are enjoying.power supply from solar mini grids, we are going to engage more investors in the sector and we are going to alot to them the mapped out cluster offtakers according to magnitude of power they will generate and the demands in such areas.
“This will help us in sustenance of existing and new industries that berth in the state. Our cottage industries also would experience boost and more would spring up as well as resuscitating moribund ones.
“There’s no doubt, power is a major contributory factor to industrialization, we are not relenting on ensuring improvement on power supply across the state.”
He disclosed that at the Investment Summit, the state would acquaint the investors with list of opportunities abound in the state, noting that doing business in the state has become easy as bureaucratic bottlenecks had been removed.
He said: “We will present an array of investment opportunities across various sectors. From agriculture to manufacturing, tourism to technology, renewable energy to infrastructural development. Ondo State offers a diverse range of sectors where investors can hamess the untapped potential and contribute to the growth of our economy.
“Ondo State is blessed with abundant natural resources, including vast arable land for agriculture, solid minerals, and a significant coastline for maritime activities and tourism. We encourage potential investors to explore these sectors which hold immense opportunities for sustainable development, employment generation, and wealth creation.”
