Nigeria Content Online

The
Ondo State government is partnering with private investors within and
outside Nigeria to boost socio-economic developments in the state, the
state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, said yesterday while speaking to
aviation correspondents at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport,
Lagos, on arrival from the United States of America.

Mr Mimiko disclosed
that the state government is focusing on Ore, a commercial city in the
southern part of the state, for industrial, agricultural and general
business activities. He said that his business trip to the United
States has provided an investment window for the state to commence
power generation and fertiliser plants at Ore, as a result of the oil
and gas resources in that region of the state. “We are positioning Ore
as an industrial hub for the state; and we are trying to take gas to
the industrial park in Ore, which will have its own multipliers effect
in power generation, and in terms of trying to put a fertilizer plant
in Ore,” he said.

Public partnership

Admitting that the
state is scouting for investors, Mr. Mimiko disclosed that his team had
mutual discussions with investors from the United States. “We are
looking for investors, as well as talking to people, and may I let you
know that we had a fruitful discussion on investment opportunities for
the state in many areas of development,” he said.

“These are the areas
we want to focus attention, we hope that out of this will come the
needed investment, especially in the area of tourism, in agro
processing, and in the oil and gas sector.” On how to secure funds for
the project, the governor disclosed that all of the ventures are to be
undertaken by public private partnership. “Every project that I have
spoken about is driven by the public private partnership model,” he
said. “Some of them we are providing the equity funding with our
partners, but for most of them in terms of management, technical know
how and equity we are bringing in partners.”