Economic Summit: Ondo targets blue economy, energy investors

As part of efforts to improve the state investment capacity, the Ondo state government has sought wider participation of relevant stakeholders in the blue economy, energy, gas, tourism and agriculture in order to increase the state revenues and meet the social needs of the people of the state.

The state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Engr. Razaq Obe, who disclosed this during a press conference ahead of a summit tagged “Develop Ondo 2.0, “scheduled to hold in the state from July 24 to July 26, 2023.

Obe, who is also the chairman of the summit stated that the state is targeting investors who would explore the untapped natural resources in the state, explore new areas and innovative avenues to attract direct investments.

He explained that the deep seaport will be used to build and operate one of the major sectors the state is yearning to engage investors who would partner with the state to build.

Obe said the summit will be declared open by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at The Dome, Alagbaka, Akure, with myriad of captains of industry who will interface and discuss on the theme: “Developing Possibilities”

According to Obe, the focus of the state is to attract Investment that would complement the existing ones and also help build the local cottage industries as well as mop up the unemployment market.

The Commissioner while speaking on the desire of the state to invest in energy sector, said the state government has already mapped out the state into different cluster offtakers in order of their demands.

According to him, “We are going to exploit the new bill on power assented to law by President Bola Tinubu which granted right to states to generate and distribute power for the development of our state.

“Though we already have communities which are enjoying.power supply from solar mini grids, we are going to engage more investors in the sector and we are going to alot to them the mapped out cluster offtakers according to magnitude of power they will generate and the demands in such areas.

“This will help us in sustenance of existing and new industries that berth in the state. Our cottage industries also would experience boost and more would spring up as well as resuscitating moribund ones.

“There’s no doubt, power is a major contributory factor to industrialization, we are not relenting on ensuring improvement on power supply across the state.”

He said the Investment Summit, would acquaint the investors with list of opportunities abound in the state, noting that doing business in the state has become easy as bureaucratic bottlenecks had been removed.

He said: “We will present an array of investment opportunities across various sectors. From agriculture to manufacturing, tourism to technology, renewable energy to infrastructural development.

“Ondo State offers a diverse range of sectors where investors can hamess the untapped potential and contribute to the growth of our economy.

“Ondo State is blessed with abundant natural resources, including vast arable land for agriculture, solid minerals, and a significant coastline for maritime activities and tourism.

” We encourage potential investors to explore these sectors which hold immense opportunities for sustainable development, employment generation, and wealth creation.”

“Partnering the state in the Investment drive are the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Brevity Anderson, among others.”