Business
When RSG Showcased Investment Oportunities At NBA Confab…
The present administration in Rivers State under the watch of Governor Nyesom Wike has never missed an opportunity of promoting and marketing the corporate image of the state in any forum in terms of its boundless investment opportunities.
This is usually done inspite of the hullabaloo and desperate conspiracy of few to the contrary to demark the state to potential investors.
The State Government in its commitment and keeping to its avowal pledge to the people in terms of brining development, dividends of good governance and creating enabling environment for wealth creating seized the singular opportunity at the recently concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference (AGC) 2017 held at landmark centre, Lagos as a platform to showcase investment opportunities in the state to potential investors.
The event was held on Wednesday, August 23, at the HardRock Café of the Landmark centre. As early as 7am Rivers Lawyers and potential investors had all arrived for the event due to commence by 9.00am.
On the part of the Lawyers, NBA Port Harcourt had initially informed her members that the first 300 lawyers to arrive for the event would receive a special package. This promise the chairman of the occasion and Leader of the Bar in the state, OCJ Okocha, SAN ensured the organizers gave out the items promised without delay.
The event eventually started with the Hall Filled to Capacity., The State Government His Excellency E.N. Wike was unavoidably absent but was ably represented by the State Attoerney General and Commissioner of Justice, Chief Emmanuel Aguma, SAN.
The event became more lividly and excited with the presence of NBA National President, Abubakar Mahmoud and his team, chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr Jim Ovia, Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke and his amiable wife, (a Rivers daughter) Director General of the Infrastructural Concessioning Commission in the Presidency and notable investors.
Governor Wike set the ball rolling by describing himself, the Chief Marketer of the state, stressing further that Rivers State is one of the few pivotal states sustaining the Nigeria nation with its boundless blessings. That the state is truly blessed.
He said that the state has surivived the worst forms of partisan attacks and de-marketing and despite all these attacks, the state continues to not only blossom but to sustain the country’s economy.
He proudly beat his chest that inspite of the state hosting a sizeable proportion of the nation’s oil assets, there have never been any known and reported attack of any of the Nation’s oil assets located in Rivers State under his administration.
He explained that the people of the state are hospitable and that hospitality truly reflects Rivers experience.
The Governor emphasized that his administration is committed to the Nigerian Federation and the large market the federation provides for investment and trade.
He said his administration has achieved a lot within two years due to peace in the state, conceding to the fact that no society is free of crime and assured investors that the security architecture put in place by the state government to protect their lives and investments is solid as nothing is taken for granted.
He Further assured investors that the obnoxious tax regime that had hitherto been a bottleneck for businesses and potential investors had been sanitised, certificates of occupancy, and consents for both land and transactions and mortgages are now obtained with ease.
No doubt, Rivers State is the second largest economy after Lagos in Nigeria. The state is the centre of the oil and gas industry in the West Africa sub region with a total gross domestic product (GDP) of about US $21.07 billion annually, a population of about six million people, has a large area of land under agricultural cultivation including oil palm plantations and a very high literacy level.
Speaking later, the Executive Director, Bureau of Public Private Partnership(PPP) Hon Nimi Walson-Jack Esq told investors that Port Harcourt is being restored to its former glory as the “Garden City” of Nigeria.
Walson-Jack explained that the present administration in the State has under taken ambitious reforms to transform the state.
The reforms were focused on providing and rehabilitating infrastructure such as road networks to facilitate movement and case traffic congestion in the state, hospitals, schools, power facilitates, tax reforms, improved public sector performance and service delivery.
He explained that the state government policy of tax holidays for new industries, (excluding federal taxes,) abundant natural resources and the broadly improving economic infrastructure have all combined to make the state a highly attractive investment destination.
The Executive Director PPP added that the state government has enacted laws through the state House of Assembly to protect investments by the investors, that one of such laws is the Rivers State Public – Private Partnership Participation in Infrastructure Development Law 2009 (PPP Law) with the objectives to strengthen institutional governance, enhance private investments, attract private funds for investments and provide an enabling environment for private sector participation among other objectives.
He stressed that the state government PPP agenda is to create opportunities for the private sector to participate in the Infrastructural Development of the state, increase the value chain in agriculture and other sectors of the economy and seek genuine opportunities for economic growth. He listed the ongoing PPP projects to include Rivers Adama, Riv metal Recycling plant, Raddison Blu Hotel, Riv Taf hold Estate, the Reserve at Golf Estate, Sterling Ridge Estate, Reef Court Estate, Garden City Villa, Ikm Toll Road and other unregistered projects.
Walson-Jack further stated that the state PPP is currently negotiating the following projects, Port Harcourt shopping mall, Songhai Rivers Initiation Farms, Eligmbu poultry farm, poultry farm at Atali, construction of Abattoirs, Housing development, provision of site and services at Greater Port Harcourt City and Golden Jubilee Hostels and Mall. The old zoo at slaughter round about will be turned into amusement park with the building of five stars Hotel there while Greater Port Harcourt hosts the new zoo.
However, without pontification, but with accurate statistical data he said that the present administration of His Excellency E.N. Wike within two years two months in office has signed and issued 680 Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) to not only individuals but corporate organizations and potential investors in the state as compared with the immediate past Administration of Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi that signed and issued 461 C of O within the period of eight years.
He said that, this is a great achievement by the present administration to assure investors that their investments are safe.
In his remarks, Jim Ovia, Chairman Zenith Bank Plc said that the state is very very investors friendly, stressing that the per capital income of the indigenes is over $3 dollars as against the national income of $2 dollars per capital.
He said if the state was to been rated as a country, its economy could have be rated favourably among 15 growing economy of countries in Africa such as Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana, adding that the state has abundant talented young well educated personalities.
Ovia who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Software Development Initiative stated that the state is safe and remains the envy of investors to invest their resources.
He commended the state Governor E. N. Wike for his administration’s determination, commitment, developmental strides, sagacity, boldness and courage to confront the challenging insecurity.
Also speaking Donald Duke Jokingly added that he is the greatest by investor in Rivers State marrying a Rivers daughter.
President of the NBA, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN also commended the state government for organizing the event to showcase the investment opportunities in Rivers State to investors and urged other states to emulate the state in subsequent NBA activities to showcase their abundant potentials for investors to invest their resources thereby creating wealth and hard currently for such states.
In his remarks, the state Hourable Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice Emmanuel Aguma, SAN, assured potential investors that the state regulatory framework is good and urged them to share in the boundless blessings of the state.
In his closing remarks, Chairman of the occasion, OCJ Okocha, SAN, expressed happiness over the well organized event and assured investors of their safe investments in the state.
Group of lawyers at the event who spoke also commended the State Government for organizing the interaction session to showcase the abundant investment opportunities in the state that will no doubt creates wealth for the state, and job opportunities not only for the lawyers with new clients but the unemployed youths.
Philip Okparaji
The Board stated this in a statement released by its Corporate Communications Directorate to newsmen, recently, during the inauguration of 140 trainees for the Train 7 Project.
The trainees had undergone the Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development (NC-HCD) programme it organised in partnership with the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The Tide gathered that the training programme was an intensive three-month Advanced NC-HCD Programme for the US$5 billion NLNG Train 7 Project on Bonny Island, Rivers State.
The trainees, The Tide further learnt are graduates in different academic disciplines who have completed a 12-month Basic Training Programme in diverse oil-and-gas-industry-related skill sets and are now set for an on-the-job phase which includes active hands-on participation in operational areas such as Turn Around Maintenance (TAM), Commissioning, and Desktop Programmes.
The Corporate Communications Directorate of the NCDMB told The Tide that in November 2024, a set of 331 trainees under Batch A of the NLNG T7 HCD Training Programme began capacity development in facility management, engineering, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Health Safety and Environment (HSE), Quality Assurance and Quality Control, as well as welding and fabrication.
According to the Board, additional 77 trainees under Batch B of the same Training Programme began capacity development in data analytics and supply chain management among several other fields relevant to the operations of the oil and gas industry.
While addressing the trainees and trainers who were drawn from the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), Management Personnel of the NCDMB and NLNG, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said the Advanced NC-HCD training is more than a milestone.
“The NC-HCD training programme is an expression of the collective commitment of the Board and the NLNG to nurturing world-class Nigerian professionals who will shape the future of our oil and gas industry.
“The Board has remained steadfast in its conviction that Human Capital Development is a critical investment in the sustainability and competitiveness of Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain”, the NCDMB boss said.
He said the situation has resulted in widened knowledge gaps and operational challenges.
As a globally regulated sector, he said it was important that stakeholders put measures in place to attract the talents required to move the industry forward.
Keyamo, therefore, called on stakeholders in the industry to be deliberate in identifying, encouraging, nurturing and harvesting young talents to ensure a sustainable supply of manpower to the aviation sector.
Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the FAAN, Mrs Obiageli Orah, in a release made available to aviation correspondents, noted that the Minister deemed it necessary to attract the right quality of human resources required to move the sector forward.
“As a globally regulated sector, it is important that stakeholders put measures in place to continually attract the right quality and quantity of human resources required to move the industry forward.
“It is important to note that organising training programmes are avenues through which we can breed, nurture, and harvest such human resources.
“One of the critical challenges facing the industry is the ageing and retiring workforce, leading to widened knowledge gaps and operational issues.
“Training programmes, I believe, is among other things designed to make aviation appealing to the younger generation, while encouraging them to develop interest in taking up a career in the industry”, the statement stated.
Meanwhile, some aviation stakeholders have expressed concerns of countless young Nigerians who seek to make their mark in aviation, tourism, and the wider transport ecosystem but often face steep barriers to entry.
According to them, lack of access, limited mentorship, financial constraints, skill mismatches, and systemic gaps, among others, have posed some constraints to them.
The Tide gathered that by the appointment, Ogbe becomes Nigeria’s representative on the Board of the 18-member continental body, which has its headquarters at Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
Ogbe was picked for this role by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who doubles as the Chairman of the NCDMB Governing Council.
The notice of the Executive Secretary’s appointment was conveyed in a congratulatory letter signed by the Director of Support Services, APPO, Mrs. Philomena Ikoko, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the organisation, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim.
She applauded the NCDMB boss on the confidence reposed in him by the Minister, expressing her belief that he would make immense contributions to the development of the African oil and gas industry.
Mrs Ikoko stated that Ogbe was joining the Executive Board of APPO at a challenging time for the oil and gas industry, especially in Africa.
“Your appointment is a major call to duty for Nigeria and the continent. The secretariat will give you the support you will need to make a success of your assignment”, she said.
According to a statement by the Directorate of Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, the NCDMB played key roles in catalysing the operations of APPO and the development of local content in Africa.
The statement added that the board was providing institutional support and mentorship to several oil producing countries in their formulation of local content policies.
“The NCDMB initiated the African Local Content Roundtable (ALCR) and hosted the inaugural edition in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, in June 2021, and the event was attended by key officials of APPO and other oil industry players.
“The idea for the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) was mooted by NCDMB’s officials at the event, as one of the strategies that would accelerate the growth of the African oil and gas industry and deepen local content.
“The Board also collaborated with APPO to host subsequent editions of the African Local Content Roundtable (ALCR), including the 2023 edition held at Abuja.
“The Africa Energy Bank, which APPO is setting up at Abuja, is aimed at pooling financial resources needed to fund big-ticket oil and gas projects across the continent, and bridge funding challenges currently impeding the development of the sector”, the NCDMB’S said.
Meanwhile, the APPO Secretary-General has said the Africa Energy Bank seeks to fund oil and gas projects across economies in Africa and help to plug critical financing gaps that exist through the continent’s over reliance on financiers from the West.
He added that each APPO member country is expected to raise $83 million with an objective of raising $5 billion capital for the establishment of the Bank.
The Tide learnt that recently Nigeria, Angola and Ghana have contributed their share capital for the African Energy Bank, which represents 44 percent of the trio’s contributions to the minimum capital that is required from oil producing countries in the continent.
It would be recalled that at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) held recently, the NCDMB’s Scribe confirmed that the agency was part of key institutions that pooled resources for the formation of the Africa Energy Bank.
Ogbe announced that the Bank will open for business before the end of the 2nd quarter of this year, 2025, expressing hope that it will create more funding availability for local oil and gas projects and companies.
Similarly, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, had stated at the Offshore Technology Conference that Afrexim Bank has already raised $19billion for the take-off of the Africa Energy Bank.
According to him, $14 billion out of the funds represents the bank’s financial exposure on African oil and gas projects, with the additional $5 billion as take-off capital.