Construction, Construction Everywhere as Ayade Drives Growth

The presence of earth moving equipment seems to have become a common feature, across Cross River State, turning the state into a beehive of construction activities.

Ranging from extreme machines, such as litronic crawler excavators, compactors to cranes, creeks are being dredged, hills leveled, valleys and contours filled, while grounds are compacted, all in a bid to pave way for the deep seaport, the, rice city project, a pharmaceutical company, poultry products etc.

The Goodluck Jonathan By-pass in Calabar, once a desolate by-pass, has suddenly morphed into massive construction sites with the attendant spinoff in housing projects along the road.

When Governor Ben Ayade took over the mantle of leadership, he had promised to transform its economy to one of a beacon to others in the country.

The governor has also traversed various continents and countries marketing the huge potentials abound in the state to local and international investors who have been coming into the state to tap into the opportunities that abound.

On such trips, he has also ensured the brokerage and signings of deals as well as MoUs with sundry foreign firms and governments.

So far, the governor has had a horde of critics who are very skeptical of his ambitions, but he appears to refuse to be sidetracked by consistently staying focused to his vision and programmes for the state.

Most of his projects are progressively coming to life. One of them is the Calabar Garment Factory, the largest garment factory in Africa set for commissioning in April. Another is the Calabar Pharmaceutical firm (Calapharm) adjacent the garment factory. Directly opposite Calapharm and the garment factory is an ongoing clearing of a 3, 000 hectare of land meant for the proposed rice city by a Thai-African Corporation Limited.

The Director of Operations, Healthage Nigeria Limited, Farhan Ahmad Khan, said the company is determined to set up a World Health Organization standard and approved pharmaceutical factory with registered products by the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Upon completion, Calapharm is expected to meet the drugs requirement need of the state as well as the Nigerian market, just as it would also save capital flight.

According to Thai-African Corporation Limited, a leading rice producer in Thailand, the rice city project is estimated at US$4 million. The construction of the Rice City Is expected to take at least six months.

The Managing Director of Thai-Africa Corporation, Mrs. Pantipa Dhanagom, who was conducted round the project site, had disclosed that the scheme would be a rice seedling centre with the best rice seed to be grown in the area. “It will become a training centre and a one-stop service which will also cater for out-growers in Nigeria and other African countries,” she said.

On the choice of the project site, the MD agreed that “The land is suitable and it is also the best location because it is right on the highway and similar to the one Ayade inspected in Thailand.”

Early this year, former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Taminu Turaki led an investment delegation comprising his sons and some of his partners to the governor seeking to invest in sugar cane farming.

Many perceive that the developments in the state are further pointers to the fact Ayade is on track to achieve the industrialisation and a complete change of the story by fast-tracking  the state as an industrial hub.

The China Railway Engineering Group, a Fortune 500 company, has indicated a strong commitment to invest in the signature projects embarked upon by the Cross River State Government.

This was the outcome of an intense discussion between the representatives of the Chinese firms and the state government in Calabar last week.

Leader of the group and International Business Manager, China Railway Engineering, Mr. Chao Yang, disclosed that the group has a pool of multi-billion dollar funds that is readily available waiting to be drawn by developing partners for any economically viable investment anywhere in the world.

Yang said they were in Cross River because they felt the state is moving in the right direction considering the type of projects it is embarking on.

Fallouts from the governor’s high profile investment trips have seen other international firms like Chinese truck manufacturing company, SINO Truck of China finalising a deal to establish an assembly plant in Calabar.

According to Wang, the setting up of the assembly plant which would start in two phases, would flag off the first phase with a service centre for all the company’s trucks in Nigeria.

The second phase, Wang disclosed, is the full establishment of SINO Assembly Plant for the production of heavy duty trucks in the state.

On the choice of Calabar, Wang cited the peaceful investment climate in the state as one of the motivating factors, adding that “Cross River is the most peaceful in the South South with an enduring weather that has a huge potential for the development of trucks and is good for industry establishment.”

Similarly, Irish property developers, Affordable Building Concept International, were in the state recently to concretize a partnership deal to develop and manage low cost housing estates across the state.
Described as “specialists in low cost housing scheme” the firm’s presence was a follow up to an earlier discussion held in Dublin on the provision of cheap, but durable houses in every local government.

While taking advantage of the peaceful investment climate in the state, Australia is also looking at solid minerals, agriculture, fabrication as well as energy sectors in which to invest.

Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Jonathan Richardson disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Ben Ayade in Calabar. He said his country is willing to collaborate with the state government to develop some identified sites and turn them into viable business ventures.

Like Australia, Canada also identified health, fishery and agro forestry as areas of collaboration with the state for skills acquisition, trainings and micro financing for entrepreneurship.

The partnership, an outcome of a meeting between Ayade and the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Perry John Calderwood which held in the governor’s office in Calabar, came on the heels of several others with countries that view the state as strategic and secure for investments.

Calderwood announced a 15 million dollar-window program for skill acquisition, training and microfinance for youths in the areas of agro-forestry, fisheries and agriculture.

A team from Liebherr Equipment manufacturing company was in Calabar from Germany to conduct an assessment of the soil texture for the deployment of earthmoving tools for the deep seaport and the superhighway.

While this may not immediately begin to bear fruits, there is no denying the fact that in less than a year in office, the state has become a beehive of construction activities.

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Posted by admin on Mar 30 2016. Filed under Ben Ayade Desk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry