Osinbajo inaugurates shared facility for MSMEs, new power station in Anambra

 

Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor (left); Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano; Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of State for Industry, Trade and investment, Marian Katagun during the commissioning of Digital Leader Industrial Hub in Akwa…yesterday.

Says Southeast a strategic industrial, trade hub
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has affirmed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration considers the South-East Zone a strategic industrial trade hub, and a major player in Nigeria’s economic growth.

According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity (Office of the Vice President), Laolu Akande, Osinbajo stated this, yesterday, at the inauguration of the MSMEs Shared Facility at the Ogbunike Leather Trading Cluster and the Awka 120MVA 132/33KV Sub-Station.

The consideration and the projects, according to him, would also help in lifting people out of poverty. The VP stated that the Second Niger Bridge Project, which connects Asaba in Delta State and Onitsha in Anambra State, has now achieved 65 per cent completion and will be completed by October 2022.

Besides, he noted that the concession of the Onitsha Inland River Port is in its final stages, while both the draft Concession Agreement and the Full Business Case (FBC) have been transmitted to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) for necessary action.

He said: “Let me also assure you of this administration’s commitment to seeing through the major infrastructural projects that will have a transformative impact on this zone. The Second Niger Bridge Project, which connects Asaba in Delta State and Onitsha in Anambra State, has now achieved 65 per cent completion.

“By the time it is completed in October 2022, the project will offer significant socio-economic benefits for the contiguous states and indeed the entire nation by easing traffic flow, improving road safety, and creating greater opportunities for residents and neighbouring states, thereby regenerating economic life.

“The cumulative effects of all these measures are to open up the Southeast and our resolve to pursue these projects to their completion is an indication that the administration sees the zone as a strategic industrial and trade hub. They also demonstrate the conviction that Anambra State and the Southeast at large have a huge role to play in the drive to foster economic growth and lift people out of poverty. The commissioning of this facility here today is a milestone in our nation’s economic adventure.”

The Vice President said the initiative would transform businesses within and around the cluster, hugely increasing their production capacity, adding: “The commitment of the Buhari administration to ensuring the completion of this Awka NIPP 132kV Grid Substation now provides a hitherto unavailable 70MW additional power capacity for driving industrial growth and boosting the economy of the state, with positive knock-on effects on employment and socio-economic upliftment for residents of the state.”