Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, Thursday inaugurated the Enugu State Ease-of-Doing-Business Council, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to transforming the state into a $30 billion economy from its current $4.4 billion GDP by making Enugu the premier destination for business, investment, tourism, and living.
Inaugurating the 25-man Council at the Government House, Enugu, Mbah—who also chairs the Council—emphasized that investors are driven by the prospects of returns and a conducive business climate.
“Recall that one of the first activities that I performed after my swearing 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.
“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 stated.
Mbah highlighted several strategic initiatives to support business operations in the state, including the launch of the Enugu State Geographic Information Systems (ENGIS) to ease access to land, a one-stop shop for permit processing, investments in ultramodern security infrastructure, improved transport networks, digital infrastructure, and development of skilled manpower.
“So, as the chairman of the council, we will all work hard to ensure that we come close as a state to become frontiers of the Ease of Doing Business,” he concluded.
Speaking to newsmen, the 2nd Deputy President of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dr. Eric Chime—who represented the chamber’s president—described the council’s inauguration as another significant milestone under Governor Mbah’s administration.
“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, they 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.
Also fielding questions from Government House correspondents, the President of the Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Barr. Sam Otobueze, commended Governor Mbah for aligning the state with global standards to attract business and investment.
“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.
