Kogi eyes N591bn IGR, deepens business ties with China

THE Kogi State Government and China, on Thursday, set the stage for the expansion of business relations, especially as the state aims at N591 billion annual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

The first step towards the renewed engagement was taken at the dialogue meeting on industry and trade between Kogi State and Chinese entrepreneurs, co-hosted by Governor Yahaya Bello and Cui Jianchun, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria in Abuja, according to a statement on Thursday.

Addressing the entrepreneurs, Bello said the Kogi State government was ready to engage the Chinese business community in order to expand business and investment opportunities with China.

According to him, there is a need for the willingness, commitment, readiness and sincerity of both parties to collaborate on harnessing all the resources - natural, human and otherwise - for the benefit of both countries and humanity in general.

Speaking further, the governor said he was aware that tribes and religions exist in China, yet the Chinese were able to thrive under a common goal of coming together to harness all that is available within China.

He said: “I have that political will of putting all of our people together. That is why ever since I assumed office on 26th of January, 2016, I have been working tirelessly to ensure that I unite my people, to ensure that there is the security of lives, livelihood of my people and everybody that wants to reside and earn in Kogi State, including Chinese and the various investments so far in the state.

“There are several areas we can engage ourselves in. We have the institutional framework ready to engage and we have the authority to engage and get things done as quickly as possible. The people are our cardinal objective to serve. And I have given a blanket and an open approval to my people to engage the Chinese side on all fronts for the benefit of all of us,” Bello said.

Earlier, Cui recalled his recent visit to Kogi State, saying that Kogi State and China had so much in common.

Cui expressed confidence that with the cooperation between the leadership of Bello in Kogi State and the Government of China in the coming years, a lot would be achieved, particularly in the area of power plants and nuclear energy.

On how the state intends to hit the target of about N591.6 billion IGR, Abdulkareem Siyaka, special adviser to Kogi State governor on economy, finance and investment, said: “We are actually getting less than 10 percent of what we should get from the resources that we have. N591.6 is the size of our IGR per annum if we are able to put all the building blocks together. So, the building blocks are what you have just seen. The Chinese today have invited us and they are willing to invest in various sectors of our economy.

“If we expose our economy to more genuine development partners, within a year, I can assure you, we will be able to hit that target of about N591.6 billion, thereby reducing unemployment in the state.”