By Amos Okioma
The Bayelsa State government has laid a solid foundation that will encourage more investors to come into the state and invest.
The Director General of the Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency (BIPA), Patience Ranami-Abah, disclosed this in Yenagoa on Tuesday.
She said that it was no longer secret that Bayelsa is the most attractive investment destination in the South-South region of the country, an effort she attributed to the kind of leardership Governor Seriake Dickson has displayed over the last six years.
She explained that the government has demonstrated its commitment to providing a business-friendly environment to investors, through BIPA which provides one-stop services to investors.
According to her, the commitment of the government to the ease of doing business has earned excellent dividends, as evidenced by recent and significant indices ranking Bayelsa very highly, not just in the South-South, but in the entire country.
Ranami-Abah stated that most recently, Bayelsa has been ranked 1st amongst South-South States in the World Banks’s 2018 Sub-National Doing Business in Nigeria report released on October 21, 2018, and 2nd amongst all States in Southern Nigeria as a whole.
She said: “Other key indices include figures released by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) showing that there is high Investor Commitment towards projects in Bayelsa State.
“The NIPC figures place Bayelsa State as the 2nd highest beneficiary (with 26% commitment in favour of the state) out of $45.74 bil worth of investment commitments made for 42 projects in nine states and the FCT, within the first 6 months of 2018.
“In the same vein, Bayelsa is placed 3rd on the fiscal sustainability index ranking for Nigeria, as indicated in the BudgIT ‘State of States Report 2018’, which looked at the ability of states to meet their recurrent expenditure obligations and their ability to sustainably manage their debt profiles.
“All of these, in addition to Bayelsa’s low crime rate, make us the most attractive investment destination in the South -South today. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics ranks Bayelsa as one of the safest states in the entire country, as it accounts for only 1.23% of total reported crime cases”.
The DG of BIPA who expressed satisfaction with the ratings also said over the last few years under the present administration, more businesses has opened up which has further stimulated the local economy, created jobs and increased the revenue profile of the state.
She pointed out that big brands like Golden Tulip now operates an international standard restaurant with local and international cuisines at the Creek Haven resort in Onopa.
“It is exciting to know that we have two functional cinemas that provides families the opportunity to go and see movies in a relaxed environment. This was never there. More hotels, eateries have all surfaced and you can say that the good times are here.
“The revolution we are seeing in our economic space is just a tip of the iceberg. Once our airport kicks off, you will see a new Bayelsa with its full economic potential. More businesses will come up, big ticket investments that will attract more global attention to our state.
“We thank and commend His Excellency, for given us the opportunity to do what we are doing. For us, we are not relenting, we will continue to work hard to achieve the vision and dream of Gov. Dickson. This is our sacred commitment,” she said.
