Gov. Otti Calls On United States To Assist Abia Rebuild Its Economy

Dr. Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State, has requested that the United States Government assist his administration in its efforts to rebuild the state’s economy.

Governor Otti stated that the American government can help Abia State rebuild its economy by promoting trade, investments, and other areas of interest.

According to Kazie Uko, Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Otti spoke on Wednesday when he met with Mr. Mike Ervin, Political and Economic Section Chief of the US Consulate in Lagos, who was in Abia on a working visit with his team.

Governor Otti, who took time to bring the US diplomats up to speed with the performance of his government in the last eight months in office, also highlighted a number of challenges confronting the State, especially the business sector.

He cited poor power supply, difficulty accessing credit, and a lack of logistical support in the digital economy as some of the issues that businesses in Abia continue to face.

The Abia Chief Executive, however, informed his visitors that the issue of poor power supply in Abia, particularly Aba, the commercial nerve of the state, had been given serious attention and might be eventually resolved with the coming on stream of Geometric Power project, due for commissioning on Monday, February 26, 2024.

The power plant, which had been in the works for the past 10 years, is expected to transmit over 180 megawatts of electricity to Aba, more than enough to service the power need of the city.

Governor Otti stated that with over 50,000 individual shoe producers, a large army of entrepreneurs engaged in garment production, leather works, and various other small and medium enterprise and manufacturing concerns, Abia takes pride in being a major trading and industrial hub in Nigeria.

He regretted that the State had previously experienced setbacks due to infrastructural decay, which had resulted in the closure or relocation of numerous businesses.

He, however, noted that some of the businesses that had relocated are gradually returning as his administration had in the last eight months embarked on the upgrade of critical infrastructure and sanitising the environment to allow for the ease of doing business.

“In the past, we have suffered quite some set back because of infrastructural decay. You really cannot do much when infrastructure is not there, that was why, when we came, we started pursuing the rejuvenation and rehabilitation of infrastructure in particular, roads, drainages, not forgetting security, and in the last eight months, we have been able to fix many many roads in Aba, which is also the industrial and trading hub of Abia state.

“You can come in, as United States, to assist us solve the power problem; then there’s another problem which is access to finance and these days of expensive dollars people are running away from foreign currency funding. But I believe we can sit down and think out a process whereby, even if it is for government to provide a guarantee and help against fluctuations in the foreign currency price, so that our people can be sure of support, they can pay back,” Governor Otti said.

Earlier, Ervin informed Governor Otti that the US Consulate in Lagos covers Nigeria’s 17 southern states, and that their mission was to seek ways to expand bilateral trade and investment while ensuring prosperity between the two countries.

“As you are aware, the United States Consulate in Lagos serves the 17 southern states, and our primary responsibility is to seek ways to increase bilateral trade and investment while also promoting shared prosperity among our people.

“Our people have a long history of partnership, as evidenced by our Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkin, visiting Nigeria a few weeks ago, where he spoke very eloquently and strongly about the significance and importance of the US-Nigeria bilateral relationship, and our desire is to find ways to expand that relationship to build prosperity for our people,” he said.

He thanked Governor Otti for inviting them to Abia State to discuss ways to build shared prosperity for their people, noting that “this is one message Secretary Blinkin has been carrying around the world.”