SINCE assuming office as the fifth democratically elected Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, a billionaire business mogul with decades of boardroom experience, has not ceased marketing Ogun State as Nigeria’s investment destination of choice. As a visionary leader, one who, according to Forbes magazine, “sets a long-term vision, creates a strategic plan to achieve that vision, and empowers others to collaborate towards that shared goal”, Governor Abiodun is quite cognizant of the thinking that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is needed to ensure the job creation, capital accumulation and export growth required to tame extreme poverty. He subscribes to the view expressed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives, that well-designed investment promotion and facilitation policies help to ensure that foreign investments support national development objectives and generate positive spillovers, including through linkages with local companies, the transfer of skills and technologies and the development of less developed regions.
It is a no-brainer that investment promotion plays crucial roles in attracting foreign and domestic investment, contributing to a country’s economic growth and development. By being the chief salesman of Ogun State, Prince Abiodun has his sights set on job creation, economic growth and infrastructure development. This is a sure path to improved living standards, technology transfer and economic diversification. It is no coincidence that Abiodun’s Gateway State has a huge IGR profile that marks it out as one of the few financially self-sufficient states in the country. Under Abiodun, Ogun is one of the states that investors have made a second home. It has Nigeria’s largest industrial layout, dotted with structures by manufacturers. Steadily, but surely, the Iperu-born prince is turning the Ogun economy around, making it a state with an enviable status. He has been able to create a climate that enhances the growth of industry, taking advantage of the state’s proximity to Lagos, and enhancing revenue generation. Ogun is one of the few states with revenue earnings in the region of N150bn annually, and that can conveniently pay salaries without federal support.
Intent on attracting investors, Abiodun has taken the building of road networks, federal, state or local, as an article of faith. Because Ogun has the highest number of federal roads in the country, sharing borders with the Republic of Benin, Abiodun has reinvented diplomacy to get the Federal Government to repair its many bad roads in the state, or to take over the repair outright. He has emplaced seamless registration of businesses, and is constantly on the road to attract investments into different sectors of the state’s economy. In April 2022, the Ogun State government signed a $400m MoU with a foreign firm, Arise Integrated Industrial Platform, on the development of Olokola Free Trade Zone and Remo Agro Processing Zone. Founder/CEO of the Platform, Gagan Gupta, indicated that the $400m would be for the completion of phase one of the projects, saying by July 2023, the investment would be higher.
As Governor Abiodun said on the occasion, his administration at the inception had identified the comparative advantage of the state and set out to bring in more investors whose investments would not only enhance the socio-economic well-being of the people, but also retain the state’s position as the industrial capital of the country. He had added: “Ogun remains the safest state in the country due to the security architecture put in place, while over 400km of road had been constructed and various reforms and policies put in place to help improve the Ease of Doing Business ranking of the state.” In August of the same year, a steel conglomerate, African Industries Group, pledged to invest over $500m in the Ogun State economy, with the chairman of the group, Mr Raj Gupta, saying: “I have to say I am very impressed so far with what we have seen as the progress made by the present administration.”
Nigerians will recall that in May 2023, the Canadian Government indicated interest in investing in the agricultural and technological sectors of the Ogun economy to strengthen over 60 years of the bilateral relationship with Nigeria. The Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jamie Christoff, speaking during a courtesy visit to the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, declared: “For us in Canada, we see potential interest in the sector of agriculture, clean technology.” In response, Governor Abiodun: “We have vast land and vast resources. We have many mineral resources from limestone, which is about two-thirds of our land, and others, including silica and huge forest reserves. All these make us the industrial capital of Nigeria as most companies have their financial headquarters in Lagos, while their major manufacturing factories are located in Ogun State.”
In July 2024, the South Africa-Nigeria Business Chamber pledged to spearhead aggressive investment drive for Ogun State, funding series of investments to drive economic growth and development in the State. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the South Africa-Nigeria Business Chamber, Diana Games, expressed the Chamber’s readiness to partnering Ogun State in various sectors of economy, especially as it regards investments in agriculture, digital economy, agribusiness, solid minerals, emphasizing the State’s strategic positioning and manpower as key elements for potential investors. Said Games: “The wealth of opportunity in Ogun State is extraordinary. We are committed to supporting the State’s development ambitions, particularly in terms of funding investments that will drive economic growth and position Ogun State as a premier investment destination.” In August last year, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) expressed strong support for the $500 million investment by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to enhance power infrastructure in Ogun State This investment focuses on strengthening the transmission network along the Lagos-Ogun Industrial corridor, particularly in the Agbara, Sagamu, and Mowe clusters, marking a critical milestone in addressing the persistent power challenges faced by industries and residents in the region.
And keying into the investment ecology in the state, a Chinese company, Inner Galaxy Steel Company Limited, in October last year, announced a $300 million investment to establish a new steel plant for the production of specialised steel products in Ogun State. President of the Chinese company, Mr Li Shuang, said that the plant would undertake the production of specialised steel products like plates, angles, beams, and stainless products, an investment was expected to increase the steel production output of the country, reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported specialised steel products and conserve scarce foreign exchange with attendant employment generation opportunities. This, he said, included 10,000 both direct and indirect employment, along with other multiplier effects in the economy. It came as no surprise, then, when in the same month, Statisense, a pioneering AI data company, pointed attention to the $25 million FDI that the Abiodun’s administration had previously secured over the past year, listing Ogun State as one of the top five leading states in Nigeria for attracting significant foreign investments.
Still in October 2024, the Ogun State Government announced the establishment of a $5 million battery recycling plant by a British company. Said Governor Abiodun following a visit from the British High Commissioner, Richard Montgomery, to the state capital, Abeokuta: “We are pleased to announce the establishment of a $5 million British battery recycling company in @OGSG_Official, marking the first of its kind in Africa. This initiative, in collaboration with Ogun Invest and the Bureau of Lands, will bring cutting-edge technology and new job opportunities to our state, positioning Ogun as a leader in battery recycling across Africa. The plant will recycle e-waste, converting battery cells back into chemical form and exporting the minerals for new battery production.” Abiodun added that the UK had expressed further interest in investing in energy, technology, agriculture, and education.
If the Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport, the engineering masterpiece planted by the Abiodun administration in the Iperu-Ilishan axis of the state can be taken as a metaphor, it is an expression of the intent of the state under Abiodun to fly into above any obstacles a glorious dawn of prosperity. The airport, now licensed for non-scheduled flights, with scheduled flight approval expected soon, is a testament to Abiodun’s genius, as is the Kajola Dry Port whose construction will commence shortly and which will complement the agro-cargo airport by receiving goods from the Apapa and Tincan ports.
Governor Dapo Abiodun definitely means business, and the best of Ogun State is yet to come.
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