Acting Managing Director, NEPZA, David Nongo
Yemi Akinsuyi
The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) said it has attracted over $9 billion (N1.4 trillion) Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to the country through the operation of free trade zones across the country.
Acting Managing Director, NEPZA, David Nongo, disclosed this in an interview with journalists.
“Presently Nigeria has attracted over $ 9 billion FDI through free zones operation across the country and that will triple very soon with aggressive government efforts in developing the sector,” he said.
The NEPZA boss commended the Ministry of Trade and Investment for organising the Oil and Gas Trade and investment forum held in Onne, Port Harcourt, Rivers. He said the forum had opened up the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone, which he described as the largest in the world, to both foreign and local investors.
Nongo said NEPZA had been working with other stakeholders, especially the ministry of petroleum resources, to attract more FDI through oil and gas. He said the ministry in conjunction with the stakeholders put up the forum to open up the zone to boost investment in the oil and gas sector.
“We are out to promote the free trade zone to enhance inflow of FDI and boost the economy. Government plan was to attract investment to oil and gas sector generally because trade has to live. We will work in conjunction with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to promote investment in the oil and gas sector.
“And this what the ministry has just done and I can tell you that we are going to triple the investment we have been having in the past few years as a result of this forum,” he said.
However, he expressed regret that power and infrastructures were the challenges facing the development of the free trade zones in the country.
Nongo, nevertheless, commended the government for measures put in place to address the challenges.
“Our greatest challenge in the development of the zones has been power and infrastructure but the interesting thing about it is that the challenge is being presently addressed by the government,” he said.