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The Federal Government on Friday said the proposed reform of the Calabar and Kano Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would cause a major revitalisation of the two zones while stimulating industrialisation and diversification of the economy for wealth creation.
Niyi Adebayo, minister of industry trade and investment, who gave the information on Friday during the inauguration the Transaction Implementation Committee for the reforms of the zone, noted that it would bring about Nigeria’s economic diversification, growth and development, as he charged members of the committee to take the national assignment with the highest sense of responsibility.
He said the world over, SEZs had been pivotal in the economic growth and development of several countries but that in Nigeria and generally in Africa, their performance had been sub-optimal. There are 34 SEZs in Nigeria, out of which the Federal Government owns only the Calabar and Kano Free Trade Zones while the rest are either privately owned or joint ventures between the private sector and state governments.
Adebayo regretted that the two Federal Government-owned SEZs in their current state were underperforming and cannot significantly improve the country’s competitiveness.
He observed that inadequate and out-dated infrastructure including unreliable public power supply and expensive cost of generating power through other sources were some of major concerns impeding the progress of the zones.
He also noted that lack of deliberate or strategic plan to attract investors create clusters, alongside over reliance on treasury to finance the capital expenditure also impeded the impact of the zones.
The minister said it was for these reasons and given the large investments required to transform the two SEZs that private sector investment was imperative to reduce government’s financial burden and associated business risks as well as to introduce innovative ideas to the management and operational framework of the zones for improved employment generation, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and export promotion.
Also speaking at the event, director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh, said the transaction would be fast-tracked to meet its completion deadline.
He lauded the minister for prioritising the transaction, given its huge economic benefits for the country and stressed that all relevant stakeholders would be involved to deliver on the mandate of the TIC.
The Transaction Implementation Committee (TIC) is drawn from different Federal Government agencies with the minister of Industry, Trade & Investment as its chairman and the DG, BPE, as vice chairman, Okoh said.
