By Amos Tauna
Nigeria president, Muhammadu Buhari, has assured that the present administration is committed to the creation of a prosperous economy in the country.
He said that the government would continue to support private sector to provide the investment to drive the economic growth in all level of governance.
President Muhammadu Buhari stated this in his goodwill message to the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADInvest 2.0), held in Kaduna on Wednesday.
The Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KADInvest 2.0), a brain-child of Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, is the second in series since his coming on board as Kaduna State Governor.
President Buhari noted that his government considers as urgent priority the creation of a prosperous economy where talents of Nigerians could thrive for sustainable jobs and opportunities for youth in the country.
He assured that his administration would continue to support the private sector to provide the investment to drive the economic growth.
According to the President Buhari, “That is why we launched presidential committee on the ease of doing Business early in life of this administration.”
He said tha the mandate was to simplify the processes and procedures for starting and running a business so that the cobwebs of archaic bureaucratic and administrative tradition do not stifle initiative exacerbate the cost of doing business.
While commending Kaduna State government for replicating the ease of doing business committee, the President said, “The action reflects the state government’s understanding of the responsibilities of the sub-national actors have in the quest for national rebirth.
“If we succeed in making our state governments adept at attracting investments, creating jobs, providing infrastructures and delivering much needed public goods like education, health and potable water, then we would have delivered a country that works for all our citizens.”
He expressed hope that KADinvest 2.0 with the theme, ‘Making Kaduna the investment destination of choice,’ would result in a reliable partnerships that could promote economic prosperity for people of Kaduna and Nigeria at large.
In his own message, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said that Kaduna State realised highest ever Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of over N18bn in 2016 due to its investment promotion moves.
He said his government was overwhelmed that major investments resulted from Kaduna Investment Summit 2016, especially the Olam $150m poultry and livestock feed project, while exploration work has continued for gold, nickel and other minerals.
According to him, “last year, we unveiled the first Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit as a practical statement that Kaduna is open for business; that we view investment by private sector as the surest platform for job creation, improved revenues and development in our state.
“Our credentials as an investment destination are anchored on the human and natural resources in our state, as well as the policy and legal environment our government has created.
“At the inaugural edition of Kaduna Investment Summit, we presented the state development plan, explained our new, transparent tax code and demonstrated how digital land registry we are developing is critical to supporting investments. In 2016, these efforts earned us over N18bn in IGR, the highest ever in the state.
“As a sub-national actor, we established the link between our state development plan and the decision to prioritise agriculture and minerals as main investment sectors.
“Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit 2.0 seeks to consolidate on the gains so far made. We shall be presenting our new Ease of Doing Business Charter, reflecting the hard work of our MDAs have put into simplifying the process of obtaining licenses and shortening the time it takes to get a business running in Kaduna State.”
The governor took time to give highlights of major achievements his administration had so far achieved across all sectors of the economy as well as the social sector and unveiled the plan of the government between 2017 and 2019.
