No fewer than 1,000 businessmen and women, investors, and change-makers from across the globe have concluded arrangements to raise $200 million to boost agriculture and the manufacturing sector in the Southeast geopolitical zone of the country.
Pursuant to the objective, a Southeast region-wide business and investment summit is to take place in Enugu between December 11 and 13, 2024.
Summit organising committee’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Ifedi Okwenna, while speaking to journalists in Abuja, explained that the summit is primed to reestablish partnerships and cooperation among the five sub-national governments of the South East, to stimulate growth in trade, commerce, and investments in the zone.
This year’s edition of the summit, themed “Remaking the South East as Economic Powerhouse,” according to Okwenna, will focus on agriculture and manufacturing and will address the prevailing hunger and impending starvation in the South East and Nigeria in general.
He said that a $200 million investment portfolio is targeted for the South East in agriculture and manufacturing alone over the next three years.
The summit, which will take place between December 11 and 13, 2024, is expected to bring together more than 1,000 businessmen and women, investors, and change-makers from across the globe.
Dr. Okwenna stated that several investors from the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and China have already indicated their interest in participating in the event.
Activities proposed at the summit, we gathered, include a premium business conference session, panel discussions, one-on-one business meetings, signing of memorandums of understanding, and the famed South East Business Award Gala.
The public/private sector structured initiative pioneered by Continental Export Development Nigeria with governments of some states in the zone, the Nigeria Diaspora Groups and clusters of investment communities in Europe and America, some city chambers of commerce across the Southeast, and other bilateral and multilateral chambers, is planned to be an annual reunion meeting of government/policy leaders, investors, and businesses from diverse sectors across the globe, to promote business and investments and stimulate growth in the economy of the South East, Nigeria.
The summit, according to him, will utilize the enterprising, deeply knowledgeable, and creative entrepreneurs of South East extraction to evolve robust region-wide private-public sector partnership schemes to build wealth, alleviate poverty, create employment in the South East, and enhance productivity and development of the eastern hinterland.
He further stated that the summit will ultimately attract increased investment at home by South Easterners and increase remittances into Southeast states by those in the diaspora.
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