El-Rufai Woos Investors At KADinvest

The Kaduna State governor-elect, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has urged investors to pick interest in investing in the state.

El-Rufai, while delivering his speech at the Kaduna Investment Summit (KADinvest) Version 4.0, themed “Expanding Investment Frontiers” in Umaru Musa Yar’adua Hall Murtala square Kaduna, urged investors not to give up on the state but push in funds to make the state greater.

“I welcome you all to Kaduna investment summit and hope you join us as we seek to make Kaduna great again. I will appeal to all of you to continue to have faith in Kaduna and invest more in Kaduna,” he said.

He lamented that since investment summit started, investments have only come from the foreign sphere and not domestic.

“In the last three years, 79% all the investment that we attracted to Kaduna state are foreign investments; only 21% is domestic. This is both good news and worrying news.

“It is good news because it means that foreign investors have taken notice of Kaduna and are coming, but worrying because it means that we are not doing enough to attract domestic investors.

“This is one of the reasons why our theme for this year’s conference is partnerships for development, we want to focus more on domestic investors and get more domestic investments into Kaduna,” he said.

El-Rufai, at the event attended by business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote, religious leaders and other foreign representatives, further stated that higher level of investment into the state will only make Kaduna state bigger as they are already the largest producer of tomatoes, soya beans, maize and ginger in Nigeria.

The governor went on to give four reasons why investors should invest in the state;

An Experienced And Educated Workforce

“We have an experienced and educated workforce and we’re improving our infrastructure,” he said.

A Large Pool Of Labour Resource

The governor stated that the state has abundant natural resources. “We have a large consumer market the third-largest in Nigeria.

“Over 80 percent of the population is below the age of 35, so we offer a large pool of labour resource.”

An Investor Friendly Environment

According to him, the state has been ranked as number one in terms of ease of doing business. “As the kadiba executive secretary pointed out we’re ranked number one in ease of doing business in Nigeria.

“Kaduna is the transportation hub of Nigeria, it is the gateway to the 19 northern states and hardly can you reach any of the northern states without having to pass through Kaduna.”

A comparative advantage In Key Sectors

Lastly, the governor listed the sectors that can be explored by prospective investors. He said, “We have comparative advantage in agriculture, tourism, mining, transport and logistics, manufacture, construction, health services and ICT and education.

“You choose and the opportunities are there.”

KADInvest is an annual platform for showcasing the rich investment opportunities Kaduna State offers across many sectors of the economy and since its first edition in 2016, KADInvest has enabled Kaduna State to establish a reputation for ease of doing business and position itself as a welcoming home for investors in agriculture, tractor assembly, solar power and mass housing.