By Henry Oqua
The Edo State Government has earmarked the sum of N56.1 billion for economic enablers in the year 2023, the Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, announced on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, when he presented the 2023 Budget Estimate to the Edo State House of Assembly.
The economic enablers, according to the Governor, include easy access to land, availability of electricity, and high-speed broadband connection in the State, among others.
Mr. Obaseki informed the lawmakers and top government officials that the amount will help Edo State consolidate key investments which now amount to $2bn across commercial agriculture, energy, healthcare, hospitality, arts and culture, entertainment, and technology in Edo State.
“Mr. Speaker, I can confidently confirm that we have attracted not less than $2bn investment into the economy across various sectors, including commercial agriculture, energy, healthcare, hospitality, arts and culture, entertainment, and technology. Many of these projects are anchored on a Public Private Partnership (PPP), which ensures that we have a strong alliance with private actors to collectively drive sustainable development,” the Governor said.
The 2023 Appropriation Bill christened budget of ‘Resilience and Transformation’ will see Edo increase efforts to create the right environment and conditions required to support businesses especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to spur the projected 5% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the new year.
Scoring his administration high for the performance of the 2022 budget, the Governor noted that in the coming year, Edo State will also focus heavily on its youth population, to prepare them for what he called “a new world of work” through capacity-building initiatives.
“Mr. Speaker, in 2022, I can confirm that we have a good story to tell the Edo people and the world. Despite the global economic problem created by the Russia/Ukrainian war and other domestic fiscal and monetary misalignments, we are proud to confirm that we recorded a budget performance of over 90 percent and also sustained a healthy capital expenditure”. Mr. Obaseki said, attributing the budget performance to “our pragmatic approach to governance.”
According to Mr. Obaseki, the successes recorded under his stewardship so far, have recalibrated Edo’s economy, and the new budget “will stimulate employment opportunities for our teeming youths and foster economic well-being for our citizens”.
He added: “With the caliber of investors that we have attracted to Edo State in the last six years, we can boldly say that the State’s economic base has been largely recalibrated. Our strategy is to attract investors by ensuring security, easy access to land, availability of electricity and high-speed broadband connection in the State.
“The success of the Edo State Oil Palm Program (ESOPP) has been phenomenal. ESOPP is one of Africa’s largest palm oil programs today. Working with new investors such as Dufil Limited, Fayus Limited, Saro Africa International, NOSAK, Flour Mills of Nigeria, and other existing investors like Okomu and Presco, the state is leading the charge in oil palm development in Nigeria and is poised to dominate the sub-sector when the plantations start harvest in the next few years.
“In the outgoing year, we have added a new refinery, with the coming on stream of the Duport Energy Park, which boasts of a 10 Megawatts Generating Power Plant, a gas processing cluster and a tier-4 data center, increasing our capacity to play in the country’s hydrocarbon market once we obtain necessary regulatory approvals” he added.
In 2022, Edo State, like other sub-nationals, had to contend with an epileptic national economic environment heavily impacted by domestic inflation rates that climbed as high as 20.52% in August 2022; food inflation rate soaring to 23.12%; multiple devaluations of the naira; exchange rate volatility; insecurity, etc., with their attendant threat to food security and poverty. In spite of these, Obaseki noted that Edo State is poised to become a sub-national powerhouse through the various programs and initiatives it has embarked upon through strong private-sector partnerships.
“Our strategic goal is to utilize manufacturing, technology, agriculture, arts, culture, and entertainment as the catalyst to promote sustained investment across all sectors of the Edo economy. As we drive for economic growth, we will continue to pursue policies and programs that ensure fair and balanced access to education, health care and social protection across the three senatorial districts of the state.” he added.
With the significant impact recorded through Public Private Partnerships, Governor Obaseki insists that this will “continue to dominate our investment initiatives in the new year”.
