The Kaduna state government said its investment drive and reforms, which were launched in 2015, have attracted actual investments and pledges worth over $4.3 billion in the last six years.
The Executive Secretary, Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), Malam Khalil Nur Khalil, said this on Wednesday ahead of the 7th edition of Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit (KadinVest 7.0), which starts Thursday October 13, 2022.
He said KADInvest, which has been an annual event since 2016, has been an important platform in Kaduna state’s investment drive.
Khalil announced that KADInvest 7.0, which will hold from October 13 to 15, 2022, with the theme ‘’Building a Resilient Economy,’’ will be attended by several domestic and foreign companies.
He recalled that Kaduna state government has attracted many notable companies since 2016, including Olam Feed and Hatchery Mill, Mahindra Tractors Assembly Plant, OCP Fertilizer and Dangote Peugeot Automobiles.
Others are African Natural Resources and Mines Limited and Tomato Jos, an agro-processing company which produces high-quality tomato paste.
The Executive Secretary noted that “even with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world, with economic activities slowing down considerably, Kaduna state has since 2021 managed to attract over $900 million worth of actualized investments both Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), like Zipline, a company delivering medical supplies to hard-to-reach places using drones.
“KadInvest’s 2016 inaugural summit was themed ‘’Kaduna is Open for Business. In 2017, the theme was ‘’Making Kaduna the Investment Destination of Choice,’’ in 2018 the theme was ‘‘Partnership for Development’’ and in 2019, it was ‘‘Expanding Investment Frontiers” in 2020, the theme was ‘Infrastructure, Industrialization and Innovation,’ in 2021 ‘Towards a Sustainable Knowledge-based Economy’ and 2022 ‘Building a Resilient Economy.
“KadInvest 7.0 will run for three days and will be highly interactive, consisting of a pre-summit event and main summit with presentations that will highlight Kaduna state’s progress in line with the theme. The pre-summit will be the Kaduna Business Expo, which will hold on October 13th at the Kaduna Centenary Park. It will cover technology, agriculture, infrastructure and the solid minerals sector.
“Objectives of the expo is to get young people invested in agriculture, market the opportunities in the Kaduna solid mineral sector, and to understand policy initiatives to promote technology as part of the Kaduna State Development Plan. On the 14th of October, His Excellency will commission a number of projects across the state, to set the mood for the summit. Amongst the notable speakers expected include HRH Muhammad Sanusi II. The summit which is scheduled for the last day of the 3-day event on the 15th October, will be a hybrid event with both virtual and physical attendance.”
