The German government has stated that it is ready to deepen its economic ties with the people and administration of Enugu State, particularly in the areas of commerce, investment, energy, and agriculture.
The German government said that it had selected Enugu State as one of its three business and investment destinations in all of southern Nigeria in light of its findings on improved ease-of-doing-business under the Dr. Peter Mbah Administration and affirmation by the Nigerian media, according to Vanguard.
This was disclosed by the German Consul-General, Weert Börner, when he led a team on a visit to the Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah at the weekend, stating that the partnership was part of the German government’s commitment to grow bilateral cooperation with sub-nationals, beyond the federal government, according to Vanguard.
According to Börner, the visit was a continuation of talks about boosting German cooperation with Enugu State in the aforementioned industries that were initiated in Lagos in 2023.
“So, I am very happy to be here in Enugu city to increase and deepen our conversation on this cooperation. I am also very happy that the delegation with me is comprised of representatives of the DHK (Deutsche Handels Kompetenz), which is our chamber in Lagos for industry and commerce; GIZ, our international cooperation agency and Siemens Energy, a private company that is already doing a lot in Nigeria to improve electricity and energy sector.
“We get a lot of news from the Nigerian media and through our own office that Enugu State and its government have improved a lot in the sense of structuring process to get business easier done to improve the infrastructural basis for joint engagement.
“We are actually very happy about this development. The German government decided to concentrate more on specific states within the Nigerian federal system. And those states from the south are Ogun, Abia, and Enugu State. So, this is why I am here to get our cooperation on a higher and more intense level,” the envoy stated.
In his address, Governor Peter Mbah expressed gratitude to the Germans for selecting Enugu State as one of their economic partners and stated that his administration was eager to collaborate with German companies and government.
Mbah emphasized that the $30 billion GDP goal his administration set for itself could be achieved by private sector investments and international cooperation.
He also stated that the states, not the federal government, were the only source of Nigeria’s much-needed economic growth.
“I want to put on record our deep appreciation to you for selecting Enugu as one of the three southern states you want to partner with.
“We are really excited about this essentially because though we are subnational, our ambition and the goals we have set for ourselves are national in scale.
We plan to grow the economy to an unprecedented. If you look at the target, we set for ourselves to grow the economy from $4.4bn to $30bn in the next seven years. It appears too ambitious because you are talking about a sevenfold growth and you are looking at a compounded annual growth rate of 27 per cent, but we think it is realisable because we are looking at unlocking a lot of the economic potentials of the state that have not been touched.
“So, before now, we have also been working very hard, preparing ourselves for a day like this because the economic growth of this nation will not come from the top to the bottom. I have always been an ardent advocate that growth will come from the periphery. It will come from the bottom-up,” he said.
The governor assured the German government and businesses of massive opportunities in the areas of agriculture, energy, trade and investment.
“We see agriculture as one of the major sectors that we can use to rapidly grow our economy. For us, agriculture is beyond food security.
“We are also putting together the Special Agro Processing Zones to meet up with our consumption and begin to package for local market and export. The ultimate goal is to be able to develop these produce into products, standardise them, and have them exported,” he stated.
According to Mbah, the government is working to create a cargo terminal to support exports and operationalize the international wing of Akanu Ibiam International Airport.
He noted that the state had taken up to 300,000 hectares of land to draw in commercial farmers. It was also looking for collaborations to help grow the livestock sector, which it had modernized and better organized by enacting the Ranch Management Agency Law.
In addition, he asked the German delegation to utilize the extensive work done by the state through collaboration and investment in the form of enhanced rules, progressive policies, and institutional development in the power sector.
