Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State will use his presence at the four-day 4th Istanbul Public-Private Partnership, PPP, week which opens on Wednesday in Istanbul, Turkey to woo potential investors.
A statement by his Director-General for Press Affairs, Abdullahi Bego, said the governor had stepped up efforts to enhance Yobe’s socio-economic development.
DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that the 4th Istanbul PPP Week is organised by Centre of Excellence, PPPCoE, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation to bring together government entities and the private sector to explore, discuss and network on infrastructure investment using the PPP model.
The 4th Istanbul PPP Week, themed at; ‘Boost PPP Together: Resilient Infrastructure’, will feature speeches from international experts on private investment financing, infrastructure procurement models, public contracting and how to attract global investments to PPP projects, amongst others.
According to Mr Bego, Governor Buni will use the event to highlight the investment potentials in Yobe State and seek partnerships and collaboration with potential investors.
“The governor will make pitches for significant private sector collaboration and investment in Yobe State in his speech and interactions at the event.
“There are vast agricultural, solid mineral and renewable energy resources in Yobe that have remained largely untapped.
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“The governor will bring attention to these resources and he will seek to partner with investors to develop and exploit them,” he said.
Mr Bego added that Governor Buni would specifically seek partnership to build a new cement factory in Yobe State to tap from the nearly 400 million tons of gypsum and limestone deposits that the state has.
“There is every incentive to build a cement factory in Yobe. Governor Buni is really focussed on that.
“He is focussed on turning these natural resource deposits into real prospects in the life of the people of the state”, he said.
The statement also noted that the governor would seek investor participation in the construction of modern markets across the state, including in Gaidam, Gashu’a, Potiskum, Buni-Yadi and Ngalda towns.
Mr Bego recalled that the Buni administration had signed a contract for the construction of an ultra-modern market in Damaturu at the cost of N2.8 billion.
The governor, therefore, promised to build markets in the state’s other major towns in order to prop up internal revenue and boost economic growth.
“Governor Buni plans to hold many on-the-side-line discussions with investors, venture capitalists and experts on many different issues.
“The overarching objective, as we move to a post-insurgency era in the state, is to pull resources around his sense of urgency to move Yobe forward”, Mr Bego said.
