BY INWALOMHE DONALD

Obaseki’s legacy projects are Benin River Port, Modular Refinery and Industrial Park are critical component that will drive economic growth in Edo, creating high wage jobs and facilitating an improved quality of life. Obaseki’s legacy projects will attract, and provide jobs for Edo State. Obaseki’s legacy projects often falls under the radar, creating and sustaining jobs for Edo is a critical component to a successful economy and community The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, is committed to the development of  his legacy projects which are industrial park, a modular refinery and the Benin River Port in the state. The legacy projects will accelerate Africa’s industrialisation drive. When the Benin Industrial Park and the Benin River Port come on stream, more jobs will be created for Edo people and residents, while a robust product processing base will be established to add value to goods produced in the state. When Edo refinery is built to operate optimally, would reduce the stress imposed on the Naira due to massive importation of refined petroleum products. The establishment of Edo refinery will also create employment. If Edu refinery could be built to operate at optimal capacity, Nigeria could be earning serious foreign exchange by supplying products throughout the West African region.  If we have the Edo Refinery running, it will reduce the stress on our currency because importation of products which heap the stress on our currency, will be reduced. The projects are at various stages of execution. The firms engaged to handle the projects are working to bring out how the projects will be handled and executed. Edo State government is handling the security network for the safety of personnel of the companies handling the projects. For instance marine police has been approved for Edo State and it takes time for Edo State government to build a base for the marine police.  

Obaseki’s investments trip to China has several lessons: First, Obaseki was not in China for loan. He went to China on investment drive. Edo’s march toward factories and industrialization has actually started. Second, Edo has integrated itself globally, regionally and sub-nationally. The driver of industrialization is a relentless pursuit of exports. What is required are foreign investment, new technologies, and knowledge of what other societies like and want to buy. Third, the Edo State government has become an unwavering promoter of export-oriented private investment. Finally, Edo’s industrialization also carries lessons for African leaders about what not to do. Letting local officials, rather than markets, decide which firm gets land or a phone line or water service, and which one doesn’t, may not be the best or cleanest way for Africa to allocate inputs. Edo is opening up policy to developed special economic technological zones and High technological development zones. These zones will focus on the technological products that needed in country market. Edo is making a concerted effort towards industrial development. Previous attempts have been met with minimal success, either due to too much government or too little government involvement. Therefore, as Edo embarks on a new phase of industrialisation, it is critical to reflect on its previous experiences to glean lessons that can be used to ensure that the outcomes are more successful this time. The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has embarked on investments with partners in China for the development of the Edo Modular Refinery, Benin River Port and the Benin Industrial Park, on the sidelines of the 7th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that will further develop Nigeria industrial base. The Obaseki’s investments drive through Nigeria-defined sustainable development plans, aiming to align financing flows. Obaseki was in China to pursue investments that can drive national economic development and he was not in China to obtain a loan. Obaseki was in China to transform the manufacturing sector in Edo State. The Chinese investment in Edo will bring good institutions, infrastructure, human capital and technology. The investments will drive manufacturing-led growth in Nigeria. This is not debt diplomacy between China and Edo State. Edo-Chinese cooperation will shift productive resources from agriculture and mining to manufacturing – which has helped many countries achieve greater prosperity. The structural transformation in Edo State will translate into more jobs, because the manufacturing sector itself requires extensive reform. Therefore, what Nigeria needs is a manufacturing renaissance, with more local value-addition that would create more and better-paid jobs.    

After several rounds of engagements with Chinese investors, the successful signing of the investment agreements on all three big ticket investments; the Benin Industrial Park, Benin River Port in Gelegele and the modular refinery projects which were successfully signed in Beijing, China, on the sidelines of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Nigeria needs massive investments to have sustainable engineering and innovative product development that will boost infrastructure in all sectors of the economy. The combined impact of an industrial park, a seaport and a refinery will undo the drag in our socio-economic development, which has held us down for decades. The modular refinery deal signed by the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and representatives of Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company (PCC) in China few days ago, has earned the state a chemical engineering programme. The programme to be domiciled in a university in the state, will be run in collaboration with the highly ranked Tianjin University, China, the oldest institution in the Asian country. According to Obaseki, “the university programme is an added benefit to the modular refinery deal which final investment agreement was signed few days ago in Beijing.” He explained that “the programme will build technical manpower for the oil and gas industry in line with the federal government’s policy on local capacity development in the sector. The idea is to develop technical manpower and set industry standards in the oil and gas sector.”

Obaseki’s industrial Development Plan has prioritized investment both from public and private investment in foundation industries that will promote the technical capacity for industrialization and manufacturing. These include immediate priority investment through joint venture financing in modular refinery, Benin River Port and industrial park. These industries will help accelerate the process of ‘Domestic Capital Formation’ as they are industries directly connected with the production of Capital goods.

Obaseki’s industrial Development Plan can sustain Nigeria as an open economy that encourages private entrepreneurship for both foreign and local investments side by side with State investments in projects linked to the production of capital goods and infrastructure. In order to sustain these essential features of Nigeria economy as an open society, the regime of impunity has be rolled back to the more positive administrative practice that respects the sanctity of contacts, a practice which encouraged Private Sector investment in the economy at the dawn of democracy in 1999.

Obaseki’s industrial Development Plan will promote innovation, secured Property and copyright in order to make burgeoning ICT sector witness rapid expansion. Protection of copyright will also promote increase scientific research and its commercialization; it will spur innovation in science and arts. Obaseki’s industrial Development Plan is linked to Manufacturing and Industry. Currently, over 70% of employed hands in Nigeria are engaged in one form of agriculture or the other.

The Chinese companies include the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited, which has concluded preliminary work for the commencement of the Benin River Port, in Gelegele. Three developers have been penciled down to spearhead the development of the Benin Industrial Park while a Chinese consortium made up of Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China (PCC), SINOPEC International Petroleum Service Corporation (SIPS), which is a subsidiary of SINOPEC, the top chemical giant in the world and African Infrastructure Partners (AIP), are to develop the Edo Modular Refinery, which is expected to gulp N2.1 billon. Before leaving for China, Governor Obaseki had approved at the last state Executive Council (EXCO) meeting the sum of N700 million to be invested in the Edo Modular Refinery project from the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC) fund, deepening the state government’s commitment to the project. The deal for the 5500bpd modular refinery has a component that provides for a fabrication yard, which will train Edo citizens on welding, refinery operations and fabrication works to enable them participate in the construction of the refinery as well as its operation. With the agreements, it is expected that the investors, will soon arrive the state for the kick-off of the projects, after the state obtains all necessary regulatory approvals.

In continuation of the Edo State Government’s investment drive in China, Governor Godwin Obaseki was hosted to a panel session at a trade and investment conference in China, where he engaged investors on the friendly investment environment in Edo State. Obaseki has taken his job creation and investment drive to Singapore, where arrangements were made to attract a $50million worth of investment that would create 50, 000 jobs in the state.‎ The investments cover agriculture, specifically, oil palm and cassava to feed the processing plants of a leading Singaporean company, Tolaram Group. ‎Other areas of the ongoing talks include infrastructure, digital services, real estate – the Edo New City Development project, amongst others. Edo is witnessing an influx of investors from Asia because we have a unique advantage that other states don’t have. Edo State is the new investment destination going by its strategic location, deposit of energy resources including on-shore gas reserves and other national infrastructure such as the gas lines, fibre network and transmission lines. The reforms and initiatives undertaken by Obaseki’s administration accounts for the influx of investors from Asia. The Edo State government is driving agribusiness investments in the state with the deployment of new technologies and strong participation of private investors.

In conclusion, the renaissance of industrial policy on the continent is largely a welcome development and an illustration of the commitments of Obaseki’s government to bridge the gap between Edo and the rest of the world. However, to ensure that Africa emerge as an industrial giant in the 21st century, the mistakes of the past should be strongly avoided.  

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Inwalomhe Donald writes from Benin City. [email protected]