The Consulate-General of South Africa to Nigeria, Darkey Ephraim Africa on Wednesday said that his country is ready to collaborate with the Oyo State Government to promote the economic development of the state.
Ephraim Africa disclosed this in Ibadan during a courtesy call on the Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Mr. Olalaken Alli.
The envoy explained that the visit was to explore a partnership with Oyo State in the areas of Agriculture, mining, education, tourism, trade and investment, noting that South Africa has nine provinces in which each of this province has its economic profile that Oyo state can collaborate with for economic development.
In his remarks, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli reiterated that the Ajimobi led administration is ready to partner with any individual, groups, state, or country who wants to invest in the State in order to boost the economy of the State.
Alli stated that the state was given a 4-Star rating as a Well Qualified State to help foreign and domestic investors by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and adjudged as the 4th best investment-friendly state and one of the only five states that attracted investment to the country in the last quarter of 2017 by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
He noted further that the recent feats placed Oyo State as one of the safest and conducive states for doing business, stressing that the government is committed to industrialization.
The SSG reiterated that the establishment of the Free Trade Zone, Industrial Park and Technical University in the state was part of the present administration’s determination to make the state an industrial hub of the nation.
Mr. Alli noted that the state government is currently using agriculture as a platform of the state’s industrialization, adding that the state is now being seen as the centre of the industrial revolution.
He commended the South African Consulate for selecting Oyo state as the first beneficiary of its collaboration in Nigeria, promising that the opportunity would be fully and judiciously utilized.
At end of the visit, a working committee was inaugurated to facilitate the relationship within 14 days to fashion out a frame work on the relationship.
