Benin Enterprise Park ‘ll boost Edo State economy

The Benin Enterprise Park Limited (BEPL), which was initially the Benin Industrial Park (BIP), was one of the first projects Governor Godwin Obaseki assigned to me. The governor had a vision which was thoroughly researched and ultimately converted to a strategic document, which gave birth to the Six Thematic Pillars that have guided the deliberate reform that is the MEGA (Make Edo Great Again) Agenda. I have the privilege to be involved in the economic reform and infrastructural development pillars by virtue of my mandate. The Benin Enterprise Park project came up as a result of the need to create commerce, improve commerce, increase commerce, increase trading, increase businesses, create a system and a situation where businesses come into Edo State and set up seamlessly. Our first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was with Mahindra Engineering Group, they came in and spent about six months with us here, chose the location for the park, which most people do not realise is equidistant from all over the State, including Delta State, thus taking advantage of our geographical location for intra and inter-state commerce. We also chose the location because of the raw materials readily available in the State to support the 14 sectors identified in our Master Plan, which I must say is a dynamic document.

What informed the choice of these 14 sectors as starters for the park?

The criteria for choosing those 14 sectors have to do with the amount of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) potential for the state, the amount of jobs that they will create for the state, and also the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for that area of the State that will benefit the local communities.

Which part of the State is BEPL located?

The location for the Benin Enterprise Park is in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the State, about 10-minute drive from the by-pass. It is 997.71 hectares of land and we have decided to develop it modularly.

How was this enterprise park set up to function?

The initial thought process was to do a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. We explored that possibility, and then we had the interest rate issues. As a foreign direct investor, when you go into any economy, any country, or anywhere you want to invest your money, there must be an exit strategy. Now, it is a problem if you don’t know how you are going to repatriate your investment and profits at the end, or you are not sure how that is going to happen. You now have a situation where you are reluctant to come in there. The major issue we had with Nigeria at that time was that we did not have an exchange rate that you could rely on or use to hedge. There was the black market, there were so many different values until we came up with this single-digit exchange rate system now, which is in its infancy. Secondly, COVID-19 came about, and then elections. Nobody goes into a new environment during elections because of the uncertainty.

Has that focus, in terms of leveraging on PPP, changed now?

Yes, the governor has decided that we should go in a different direction, that we should take some part of that land and then the government will provide the horizontal infrastructure such that businesses will now come in there and set up. Therefore, once we start having those first mover advantages, the anchor tenants coming, it will be easier to now market to other people to come in. Lagos is congested, Onitsha is also congested. The cost of doing business there is very high. If we can provide electricity, water, security, gas, which we are already in talks with the different providers, then we can have a situation where we now bring in small to medium-scale businesses to come in and then take parcels of land. That part of the policy is being developed also, and then we start to do business.

the young people in the area too will be empowered. You can’t come and take and then exit, you are going to take what you need to take to exit, but you must leave a lot in the community.

Looking at where this government is coming from when it took over power in 2016, how will you assess its performance over time?

I have to commend Governor Godwin Obaseki for his steadfastness and doggedness. Our TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) programme is running very well, as well as EdoBEST and EdoJobs. We have a lot of things going on. We have the new town development, which is another company, just like the Benin Enterprise Park, but that one is for residential, it is also ongoing. So, we have a lot of initiatives that have kicked off and have benefited a lot of people, but we are not telling our story as quickly as we should. Going forward, some of these things need to be documented such that whoever comes later will realise that Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, will always stand on the right side of history.

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