Deputy General Manager of the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone, Daniel Che, has said that investments in the Zone, located in Igbesa, Ota Local Government Area of Ogun state, have exceeded $2 billion.
Che made the revelation while fielding questions from journalists on the activities of the zone since it was established some eight years ago.
He noted that the zone has been a success story, judging by the number of companies that have invested in the zone and several others that have indicated interest in setting up shop.
“Currently we have over 30 factories in the OGFTZ with a combined investment of over 2 billion USD and more have indicated interest in setting up in the zone, as you are aware what we have right now is just the first phase, in actual fact we are moving to expand the operations of the zone by so that more factories can come in.
“The total area designated as a free trade zone in Igbesa for the OGFTZ is over 2000 hectares. We can assure Nigerians that that this land would be fully utilised to create a booming industrial zone which would be to the benefit of the immediate community, the state, and Nigeria in general,” the deputy general manager said.
Che stated that since the zone commenced operations it has contributed immensely to the development of the host community, especially through employment creation for the local populace.
“Over 6000 people are currently employed by the zone, this is direct employment we are not talking about indirect employment, when you add that to the number of local contractors who supply raw materials to companies in the zone you would begin to understand our impact on the local economy.
“When you consider that we are just in the first phase of the development of the zone then you would begin to understand what we would be like in the next five to ten years.
“By the time we begin to implement the next phase of this project. OGFTZ would eventually emerge as the best managed and the biggest in Africa,” he maintained.
Speaking on why Nigeria should pay more attention to the Free Trade Zone model, he observed that with the establishment of special economic zones (SEZ) in the South eastern coastal region of China in the 80s, more than a hundred zones of various kinds have since been established throughout China, which are largely responsible for China’s remarkable growth over the years.
