InvestJigawa and matters arising
By Saifullahi Attahir Wurno
” …. In the next 25 years, Jigawa state should be the preferred investment destination in Nigeria”. – Sule Lamido
On June 4, 2024, the Jigawa State Investment Agency, with the collaboration of other key economic sectors, convened a summit to raise awareness on how to facilitate easy access to small credits and attract foreign investment.
Many dignitaries across the state gracefully attended the summit, including various agencies concerned with investment in the state and the private sectors involved in providing job opportunities for our army of unemployed youths.
Summits like these were crucial to highlight key areas that urgently need investment in Jigawa state. These investments would serve as catalysts for job creation, improve economic indices, and attract more internally generated revenue (IGR) for the state.
I was delighted by a speech by Mal Audu Ahmadu from CBN, who highlighted the role played by commercial banks in hindering small enterprises’ access to loans because of their high interest rates, which amount to over 30 per cent instead of the more tolerable 25 per cent or less.
Commercial banks created other bureaucratic formalities that prevented local investors from getting easy loans. They required collateral assets to be presented, sometimes demanding that they be in the nation’s capital, Abuja, or other unreachable locations.
Although many banks were invited, the commercial bank Zenith Limited required special mention not only for being the only bank honouring the invitation but also for analysing its activities over the years in Jigawa state aimed at improving the standard of living of ordinary people in the state. The bank formulated a specially designed program called Z-Women to give medium-term credit to women interested in domestic marketing.
Other key dignitaries in the summit who were among the frontiers as local investors include Dr Sambo of Sambo Hospital Limited, Dr Yamuna Kani of Albarka Hospital Limited, Mallam Umar Babayaro of Limawa Table Waters, and Mallam Hassan Hashim from Hasina Confectionery Limited.
Another key guest was Mallam Aminu Bizi, CEO of the renowned Bizi Mobile Cashless Consultancy Limited. He was instrumental in providing millions of jobs in the technology sector across many States in Northern Nigeria through mobilisation, marketing, and public awareness of POS services during the early CBN introduction of the cashless policy.
Aminu Bizi other ventures include; Bizipay Fintech Account, NASIA health insurance, Jigawa JICHMA health insurance, and Jigawa Palliative shops. All these were his endeavours to provide jobs for unemployed youths in the state through partnerships with the state government.
Jigawa state was in dire need of investment, and the unfortunate low profile caused the poor turnout of foreign investors. However, with the appointment of the current Director General of the Agency, Hajiya Fureira Jumare, many positive strides were made to attract potential investors to the state.
For the benefit of outsiders, Jigawa state is one of the most peaceful states in the country, with political stability that would protect capital venture investments. The state has a population of over 6.5 million people, which is a readily available market for any investment and cheap labour for manufacturing.
In 2018, the World Bank ranked Jigawa state second among states with ease of doing business. The state has a rainfed land of over 1.9 million hectares, of which 400,000 is Fadama readily for rice farming. The state is mainly Agrarian, with vast land that fruitfully yields Sesame, grains, Hibiscus, tomatoes, and Onions. Jigawa is blessed with about four major markets that have an extensive network linking the state to others and international markets like Niger and Cameroon. The market include; Sara, Gujungu, Maigatari, and Hadejia.
Jigawa state has over 22,000 square kilometres of land, over 3000 km of road network, and a state-of-the-art International Airport. The current and previous administrations have led the way in bolstering the state’s economic indices and attracting foreign investors.
InvestJigawa was founded in 2013 after the first economic investment summit under Governor Sule Lamido (the father of modern Jigawa). Seven years later, with the appointment of the current DG, she strives to create a commendable five-year strategic plan (2021-2026) for the InvestJigawa journey.
The roadmap would constitute a public-private partnership (PPP) and comprehensive development framework (CDF) to revive key employment avenues like MSMEs, tourism, solid minerals mining, renewable solar energies, and the already established Agriculture.
Jigawa state aims to attract at least 1 billion USD and create 2500 jobs by the end of 2030. This is thanks to other investments made during previous administrations, such as the Kila Cassava processing plant, Hadejia rice mills, Gagarawa Sugarcane plants, Gagarawa Industrial Park, and Dutse Ceramic Processing Company.
Saifullahi Attahir Wurno wrote from Dutse. He can be reached via saifullahiattahir93@gmail.com.