Ekiti eyes $500m investment from Egypt to bolster industrialisation drive

Ekiti State Government has said it is eying industrial and trade investment worth $500m from Egypt as part of efforts to boost the state’s industrialisation drive and generation of direct and indirect jobs.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, said the Ekiti–Egypt Industrial Investment Mission “generated a pipeline of opportunities with the potential to mobilise up to $500m in industrial and trade investment in the state”.

Boluwade said in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Sunday that the five-day mission, which was held in Egypt last month, brought the Ekiti delegation into engagement with over 40 Egyptian industrialists, manufacturers, processors, agribusinesses, mining operators and investors.

The commissioner said that the engagement resulted in eight expressions of interest and further commercial engagements across agriculture, agro-processing, commercial farming, seed production, textiles, manufacturing and solid minerals.

He said, “We want to build agricultural value chains where farmers have reliable markets, processors have access to the volumes and quality they require, and more of the value created from our agricultural resources remains within Ekiti.

“Connecting production to industry is central to our food security, employment and economic development agenda,” the commissioner said.

The Commissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry, Omotayo Adeola, said it was time the state moved from expressions of interest to having industries on the ground, adding, “Our focus now is conversion – moving from Expressions of Interest to site visits, commercial agreements, capital deployment, factories and jobs.

“Ekiti is open to serious industrialists and investors from Egypt and across the world who are prepared to build productive businesses within the state,” she said.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor, Office of Transformation and Service Delivery, Dr John Ekundayo, ‎said, “The true measure of these engagements will be their impact on the ground.”

He listed the expected impact to include employment, stronger businesses, increased productivity and new economic activity.

Ekundayo said, “Our responsibility is to ensure that credible investors can move efficiently from interest to implementation.”

The Founder of Welcome2Africa International, Bamidele Owoola, said the mission demonstrated the scale of international interest that could be mobilised around Ekiti’s industrial opportunities.