Develop Ondo 2.0: Ondo State seeks partnership in state-owned electricity market, deep seaport, untapped natural resources

Oredola Adeola

The Ondo State Investment Summit will serve as opportunity to attract investors to explore the untapped natural resources, electricity market, solid minerals, and the state deep seaport.

Engr. Razaq Obe, Ondo State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources who doubles as the Chairman of the summit, made this known on Wednesday during a press conference in the state capital.

EnergyDay gathered that the Develop Ondo Investment Summit tagged: “Develop Ondo 2.0,” which would be declared open by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would assemble captains of industry at The Dome, Alagbaka, Akure, to interface on the theme: “Developing Possibilities” from July 24 to July 26, 2023.

Obe disclosed that the state government is eager to partner with investors in building the deep seaport, for which they have obtained a license to build and operate.

He said, “With a focus on the blue economy, energy, and gas, the summit presents an array of investment opportunities across various sectors.

According to him, the state is targeting investors who would explore the untapped natural resources in the state.

He noted that the summit aims to highlight the state’s potential for power generation and distribution, following the new bill on power assented to law by President Bola Tinubu, which grants states the right to generate and distribute power for their development.

The commissioner, therefore, said that the state government is committed to generating and distributing its own electricity to benefit the citizens of the state.

“The government has already divided the state into different clusters based on their power demands and is planning to engage more investors in the sector.

The Commissioner also mentioned that investors will be offered the opportunity to exploit the new electricity act recently assented to by President Bola Tinubu, which grants states the right to generate and distribute power for their development.

” We have already provided power supply to some communities through solar mini-grids and will be allocating the mapped-out cluster to off-takers to invest based on the magnitude of power they will generate and the demands in such areas.

“There’s no doubt, power is a major contributory factor to industrialization, we are not relenting on ensuring improvement on power supply across the state.”

Obe further disclosed that at the Investment Summit, the government would acquaint the investors with a list of opportunities that abound in the state, noting that doing business in the state has become easy as bureaucratic bottlenecks had been removed.

“We will present an array of investment opportunities across various sectors. From agriculture to manufacturing, tourism to technology, renewable energy to infrastructural development.

“Ondo State offers a diverse range of sectors where investors can harness the untapped potential and contribute to the growth of our economy.

“Ondo State is blessed with abundant natural resources, including vast arable land for agriculture, solid minerals, and a significant coastline for maritime activities and tourism.

“We encourage potential investors to explore these sectors which hold immense opportunities for sustainable development, employment generation, and wealth creation,” Engr. Obe stated.