Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency, NASIDA, says it has attracted about $500 million worth of investments into the state in the past one year.
Ibrahim Abdullahi, Managing Director of the agency disclosed this at a press conference in Lafia on Thursday.
According to Mr Abdullahi, the agency was able to attract a huge investment portfolio because of the state government’s policy of entrenching Public-Private Partnership, PPP, in all its dealings.
He said the state government chose the PPP policy in developing the state since the private sector players were better managers of risks, capital and businesses.
According to him, the result in the past year has been investments in different parts of the state, attracting millions of US dollars.
“We have closed 13 Public-Private Partnership projects. We have implemented eight significant business environment initiatives and this has attracted over $500 million in investment both domestic and foreign, in key sectors of the state.
“We recently signed a PPP agreement to develop the Nasarawa Technology Village to help build the state as an emerging centre for the digital economy.
“Also in the health sector, we signed three PPP with the private sector towards enhancing quality service delivery, particularly at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital Lafia.
“We signed a joint development agreement to develop the Karu Retail and Development Centre to have Shoprite, a retail giant in Africa as the anchor tenant.
“We have welcomed a plethora of investors and investments into the state which has made the state a hub of investments,” he said.
The NASIDA boss said that the agency had also attracted investment in the agriculture sector, specifically, rice production, sugar production, cassava among others.
“We are positioning Nasarawa state as the premier destination for agri-business in the country. It is very gratifying to see that Nasarawa state has become a top investment destination in the country,” he said.
He said the creation of NASIDA by the state government was a deliberate effort to create an enabling environment for the private sector and businesses to operate and thrive in the state.
Mr Abdullahi added that since the commencement of operations of the agency, investment into the state has multiplied.
“NASIDA as an agency is a critical piece in Gov. Abdullahi Sule’s aspiration to improve the economy of Nasarawa state through increased private sector participation and so far we have managed to do the needful in attracting investments,” he said.
NAN
