Agriculture, agro-industries present viable business opportunities for investors in Ogun

Ogun State government says agriculture and agro-industries present viable business opportunities for investors in the state that are comparable to anywhere else in the world, including Brazil.

The state, which prides itself as an emerging economic powerhouse in Nigeria, is today the country’s industrial hub with over 90 companies operating in its domain.

Ibikunle Amosun, the state governor, who disclosed this in his opening remarks at the state’s Investors Forum, said, “Ogun is endowed with favourable climate and vegetation for the cultivation of cash and food crops as well as livestock farming.”

The Investors Forum, the third in the series, has as theme, ‘Ogun State: Open for Business’ with special focus on Agriculture, Environment and Transportation.

Already, the state has been attracting massive investment in diverse sectors of its economy and the governor disclosed that from China alone, it had attracted investment valued at $2.1 billion.

“Entrepreneurs from within Africa and around the world are choosing Ogun State as preferred investment destination and just last month, the State government attracted $2.1 billion from China,” the governor said.

This investment from China, he said, was directed mainly towards the development of railway and free trade zones in the state.

In spite of this, he said, more investments were needed to realise the full potential of the state, saying the master plan, which is the statutory policy of government guiding their physical development, captured the many areas where discerning investors might wish to put their money to secure attractive returns.

He stressed that agriculture and agro-industry provide immense investment and business opportunities for international and indigenous investors.

“Our vision for agriculture includes expansion into agro-processing industries along the value chain. Presently, only about 20 percent of farm produce is processed, the rest is either sold as cash crops or left to rot due to insufficient processing capacity.

“Some of the areas in agriculture that present the most viable business opportunities for investors are palm oil/palm kernel, rubber, aquaculture and livestock. Among the diverse uses of palm kernel and palm oil are as natural cooking oil, vegetable-based soap, cosmetic toilet soap, and feed stock for bio-diesel production,” he said.

Speaking on transportation, he explained that the strategic location of the state offered immense benefits for investors in the area of logistics, distribution and retail, which emphasised the need for infrastructure development in the state.

Ogun State is a natural transportation hub for Nigeria, as the flow of goods and people from commercial capital Lagos via land must and does pass though the state, he said.

He noted: “We believe that an inter-model transportation network is essential in order to maximise economic growth. The development of strategically placed airports and railway is integral to Ogun State development plan. The existence of a good network roads forms the bedrock on which accessibility and efficiency of other social amenities are built.”