Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, on Thursday inaugurated the Enugu State Ease-of-Doing-Business Council, aligning the move with his administration’s commitment to transform the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn by positioning it as a leading hub for business, investment, tourism, and quality living.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 25-member council at the Government House, Enugu, Mbah, who also chairs the council, emphasised that investors are driven by returns, not charity, and will naturally gravitate toward environments that guarantee higher return on investment and a business-friendly climate
“Recall that one of the first activities that I performed after my swearing in 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,” he said in a statement.
“Therefore, for us as a state government, this Ease-of-Doing-Business 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,” he stated.
Among others, he listed ease of access to land through the establishment of the Enugu State Geographic Information Systems, ENGIS, and the establishment of a one-stop shop for processing of permits; the investments in ultramodern security infrastructure; the building of transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and skilled manpower as some of the strategic steps taken to ease up the business in Enugu State.
“So, as the chairman of the council, we will all work hard to ensure that we come close as a state to becoming frontiers of the Ease of Doing Business,” he concluded.
Speaking to newsmen, the 2nd Deputy President of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dr. Eric Chime, who represented the president and the body, described the council as another great leap for Enugu State under Governor Mbah’s leadership.
“The chairman, who is the governor, has stated all he has done to make Enugu State attract investment. What we are going to do is to be the wagon that will carry this message and let investors come. Enugu is the safest place to invest.
“Any investor that you want to tell to come will ask you about security first. If you are talking about security, the governor has taken care of it. If you talk about technology, the governor has taken care of it; infrastructure, the governor has taken care of it. So, our job is to take the good message and attract investors to the state because Enugu is a safe haven,” he enthused.
Also, fielding questions from Government House correspondents, the President of the Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Barr. Sam Otobueze commended Mbah for his efforts to align Enugu State with global standards to attract businesses.
“This is a very wonderful initiative. The world economy is changing, and the best way to get into it and be recognised is what we are doing because the more we attract businesses and investments into the state, the better for us. The more we get to the world map as one of those states, you can go and invest in business, the better for us,” he stated.
