Ground-Breaking Ceremony Of The Benin Industrial Park

• Share:

NO ROOM FOR COMPLACENCY, ECONOMIC REFORMS MUST ENABLE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE – VP OSINBAJO

***This turnaround notwithstanding, there is neither room nor excuse for complacency. This is the time to, more aggressively than ever before, push our reforms past the point of no return. It is the time to support and enable private enterprise to create the jobs and the prosperity we need.

SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, AT THE GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY OF THE BENIN INDUSTRIAL PARK, EDO STATE, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2017

PROTOCOL

I am delighted to be here to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Benin Industrial Park, which when completed, this N200billion park will produce in excess of 600,000 metric tonnes of industrial output, and provide jobs for a hundred and seventy thousand direct and indirect workers.

The Nigeria we envision, and which we labour daily to bring into reality, is a country that produces what it consumes. This is, in the simplest possible terms, the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari. I am pleased to note that the multi-product Benin Industrial Park, aligns perfectly with that vision.

Earlier this year, we unveiled our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) (2017–2020), which clearly spells out the adoption of industrial parks and special economic zones as policy tools to generate growth and diversify the Nigerian economy.

Industrial parks will help us bridge the infrastructure gaps, develop targeted sectors, generate economies of scale, and can even be used as testing grounds for broader economic reform initiatives.

It has always been our prime belief that Nigeria’s growth and prosperity will be driven by the private sector; with government devoting its resources and political will to enabling and amplifying the potential of private capital, and removing the obstacles and bottlenecks that continually test the resolve of the private sector.

Only a few days ago, Nigeria moved up 24 stages in the World Bank ranking of the Ease of Doing Business and we are named as one of the top ten of the reforming economies in the world.  We are now well in the implementation of the second National Action Plan to entrench the successes of the last one year.

Closely aligned with that is what we are doing around physical infrastructure, especially transport connections and power.  We are upgrading and expanding the national electricity grid and the road network.  We are investing in unprecedented sum of money in fixing our road and increasing capacity at our ports.

One of the important things that you have to bear in mind today is that despite 60 per cent drop in revenue, the Federal Government of Nigeria invested in 2016, N1.3 trillion in infrastructure in the capital project – the highest ever in the history of the country.

Nigeria is also leading on a project that will open the transport corridor in Lagos and Abidjan.  This project and initiative are all interconnected and more abundant power supply, more efficient transport connection will bring down the cost of goods that will emerge from industrial parks like this one.

In recent months, we have seen an upward trend in the Nigerian economy; after five quarters of recession, we are back in positive, albeit fragile, growth territory. We have seen eight consecutive months of declining headline inflation, our external reserves are at a 2-year high, and recent reforms in our foreign exchange regime have led to stability as well as a remarkable upswing in investor confidence and investment inflows.

This turnaround notwithstanding, there is neither room nor excuse for complacency. This is the time to, more aggressively than ever before, push our reforms past the point of no return. It is the time to support and enable private enterprise to create the jobs and the prosperity we need.

That is what our ease of doing business initiative is all about, and I’m pleased that we’re starting to see the early results of the reforms. We’re now well into the implementation of a second National Action Plan to entrench the successes of the last one year.

Closely allied to that effort is the work we’re doing around physical infrastructure, especially transport connections and power. We’re upgrading and expanding the national electricity grid and the rail network, investing unprecedented sums of money in fixing our roads, and increasing capacity at our ports. Nigeria is also leading on a project that will open up a transport corridor between Lagos and Abidjan.

These projects and initiatives are all inter-connected – more abundant power supply and more efficient transport connections will no doubt bring down the cost of the goods that will emerge from Industrial Parks like this one. Those goods will also then be able to effortlessly make their way not only to markets within Nigeria but also across our Ports to West Africa and beyond. Along the way, they will sustain a widening chain of traders and merchants and other SMEs.

This industrial journey we’re commencing – or recommencing, considering our history – is one that several other countries around the world have also embarked on and thrived. If we put in the sacrifice and effort required and stay the course, we will enjoy a similar kind of success.

We have seen how the Asian Tiger economies, and more remarkably China, used the resources they were blessed with, and their comparatively lower labour costs, to develop export-oriented light manufacturing industries located in special economic zones – encompassing free trade zones, export processing zones, industrial parks and the various other arrangements involving provision of world-class infrastructure, facilities and incentives.

From these special economic zones, they achieved rapid and sustained economic growth over several years, created a large number of jobs, generated substantial export revenue, diversified their economies, and achieved prosperity for their people within a single generation.

This same strategy, modified to suit local conditions, has been adopted across Asia in Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore and India.  Mauritius has also used special economic zones successfully to become a major exporter, especially in the cotton, textile and garment industry. And this had been the case with several African countries who are also trying to move as quickly as possible.

It is important to bear in mind that it is the same vision that is shared by the governor of this state, Governor Godwin Obaseki. Mint is the vision of the Asian Tigers. It’s the vision that enabled China to achieve the success that it has achieved and I think that he must be commended, for the excellent way in which he has chosen to rescue this region here in Edo State.

It is worth noting, that we will be competing with these countries for the more than 80 million jobs in light manufacturing that China is forecast to shed over the next ten years. We cannot afford to lose out.

We must do everything in our power, to ensure that those jobs make their way to the Benin Industrial Park and the other parks and special economic zones that Nigeria will nurture in the years ahead.

The best time to industrialise Nigeria was sometime in the last few decades. The second-best time is now. For that reason, we must not allow the political will and the enthusiasm that has led us to this ground-breaking to reduce at any point over the course of the next few years, when all the phases of this park will be fully developed.

So again, let me congratulate the Governor of Edo State, for his vision and to also say that this is what the country has been waiting for, this time of enterprises, this time of huge visions, that can move our country not only forward, but can potentially move our country to the height that we desire, more importantly to the height that we deserve as a people that are blessed with so much talent and so many resources.

There is no doubt that this Industrial Park, upon completion, will unleash the economic potentials of this city, it will change the face of Edo State and immensely contribute to the growth of Nigeria’s manufacturing base.

Let me assure you that the federal government will give all the needed support to bring this landmark project to fruition.

I want to thank you very much for listening. God bless you, God bless Nigeria.