Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, on Thursday inaugurated the Enugu State Ease-of-Doing-Business Council as part of his administration’s goal to grow the state’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion by establishing it as a leading center for business, investment, tourism, and quality living.

At the Government House in Enugu, where he also chairs the 25-member council, Mbah stressed that investors are motivated by returns, not charity, and will naturally prefer environments that offer higher returns on investment and a business-friendly atmosphere.

“Recall that one of the first activities that I performed after my swearing in was to sign Executive Order 005, which speaks to Ease of Doing Business. It largely tells us that we cannot achieve the ambitious economic growth plan that we have given ourselves if we do not attract private investments,” he said in a statement.

“Therefore, for us as a state government, this Ease-of-Doing-Business Council is consistent with our objectives to ensure that we create an environment for businesses to thrive.

“If you look at all the key indicators of ease of doing business, you would notice that we have aggressively intervened across those various indicators,” he added.

Among other initiatives, he highlighted easier access to land through the creation of the Enugu State Geographic Information Systems (ENGIS), the establishment of a one-stop shop for permit processing, investments in ultramodern security infrastructure, as well as the development of transport and digital infrastructure and skilled manpower as key strategic steps to simplify doing business in Enugu State.

“So, as the chairman of the council, we will all work hard to ensure that we come close as a state to becoming frontiers of the Ease of Doing Business,” he concluded.

Speaking to pressmen, the 2nd Deputy President of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dr. Eric Chime, who represented the president and the organization, described the council as a significant milestone for Enugu State under Governor Mbah’s leadership.

“The chairman, who is the governor, has stated all he has done to make Enugu State attract investment. What we are going to do is to be the wagon that will carry this message and let investors come. Enugu is the safest place to invest.

“Any investor that you want to tell to come will ask you about security first. If you are talking about security, the governor has taken care of it. If you talk about technology, the governor has taken care of it; infrastructure, the governor has taken care of it. So, our job is to take the good message and attract investors to the state because Enugu is a safe haven,” he enthused.

Responding to questions from Government House correspondents, President of the Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Barr. Sam Otobueze, praised Governor Mbah for his efforts to position Enugu State according to global standards to attract businesses.

“This is a very wonderful initiative. The world economy is changing, and the best way to get into it and be recognised is what we are doing because the more we attract businesses and investments into the state, the better for us. The more we get to the world map as one of those states, you can go and invest in business, the better for us,” he stated.