By Seyi Babalola
The maiden edition of the Abuja Investment Summit and Expo 2023 takes off in the Federal Capital Tuesday 14th – Wednesday 15th November, 2023, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr. Nyesom Wike champions the Annual event to unlock the abundant investment opportunities of the territory for greater economic and industrial growth of the city.
This was revealed in a press release signed by Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Sule, Director, Communications of the Organizing Committee.
The Summit and Expo is coming on the heels of Wike’s resolve as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to make a difference in improved infrastructure, security and socio service provisions for inhabitants of the Federal capital city and its environs, against the backdrop of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Scheduled to hold at the Velodrome, Package ‘A’ of the M.K.O. Abiola National Stadium Abuja, the Abuja Investment Summit and Expo christened: ‘Unlocking the Investment Opportunities of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory is made up of two sessions; The Summit, which will be an interactive session to examine and explore critical areas of investment opportunities in the FCT by expert speakers and panel of discussants.
The other is the Exhibition aspect which provides the window for FCTA Mandate Secretariats and their Agencies, Departments and Units, allied exhibitors from Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Organized Private Sector (OPS) companies, firms and corporate organizations to showcase their businesses and projects with the view to attracting investors for collaborative partnership to grow their respective sectors.
According to highlights made available to the press on the essence of the Summit and Expo, they include; promotion and marketing of the Federal Capital Territory as a safe investment destination in Africa, creation of a platform for networking, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration among investors, entrepreneurs, government officials and other stakeholders and the showcasing of the potentials of Abuja as an investment destination, in addition to portraying the city’s socio-economic and cultural strengths.
As an annual event of impeccable repute and global standards, organizers say the Abuja Investment Summit and Expo 2023 seeks to showcase the potentials of Abuja as an investment destination, create a platform for networking and collaboration as well as promote economic growth that will boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and development in the city.
Adding that events and activities lined up for the two-day program are meant to awaken the economic potential of the Federal Capital Territory through the provision of series of action-oriented and implementable dialogues with multi-faceted stakeholders invited as investors, speakers, panellists and exhibitors to the Summit and Expo.
Indicators from the Organizing Secretariat of the Abuja Investment Summit and Expo revealed quite a number of Ministers have signified their intentions to lead their Agencies and parastatals to the Summit and leverage on the opportunities it present to showcase their sectoral mandates in stimulating investments for the economic growth and development of not only the Federal Capital Territory, but the country as a whole.
The Federal Capital Territory Secretariats as primary targets will be showcasing viable Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects offering opportunities for investors to leverage on the various business attractions from both the government and individual stakeholders who will be in attendance and to afford financing opportunities for credible investors to access funding for various sector involvements including InfoTech, Agricultural and Agro-processing, Oil and Gas, Mining, Road and Building Projects, Health, Transport, Tourism and Hospitality, Real Estate and Property development and a myriad of Infrastructural Development projects
Worthy of note, as posited by the Organizing Committee, is that the benefits to the FCT is that the Summit and Expo will help boost developmental activities in Abuja and its environs; creation of over 500,000 job opportunities for the Abuja populace and its environs; drive the socio-economic growth of the Federal Capital Territory, which is a fundamental aspect of the ‘Renewed Hope’ mantra of President’s Tinubu’s administration
It is expected that the Abuja Investment Summit and Expo will objectively result in stimulating deals and securing transactions for accelerated economic development of the FCT in industrialization and manufacturing, creation of economic zones and industrial parks, trade logistics for regional integration, structural transformation for private sector competitiveness, skill development and job creation among others.
