Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, inaugurated the Enugu State Ease-of-DoingBusiness Council, saying it was in tandem with his electoral promise to grow the state into a $30billion economy from $4.4bn by repositioning it as the premier destination for business, investment, tourism and living.

Inaugurating the 25-man Council at the Government House, Enugu, Mbah, who is also the Chairman of the Council, said investors were not Father Christmas and would naturally tilt to where there is conducive environment and higher return on investment, RoI.

He said: “Recall that one of the first activities that I performed after my swearing was to sign Executive Order 005, which speaks to Ease of Doing Business. “It largely tells us that we cannot achieve the ambitious economic growth plan that we have given ourselves if we do not attract private investments.

“Therefore, for us as a state government, this Ease-of- DoingBusiness Council is consistent with our objectives to ensure that we create an environment for businesses to thrive. “If you look at all the key indicators of Ease of Doing Business, you would notice that we have aggressively intervened across those various indicators.”

Among others, he listed ease of access to land through the establishment of the Enugu State Geographic Information Systems, ENGIS, and establishment of a one-stop shop for processing of permits, the investments in ultramodern security infrastructure, building of transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and skilled manpower as some of the strategic steps taken to ease up the business in Enugu State.