The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) on Wednesday said it attracted a total investment commitment of $15.97 billion from new and existing investors in five of the oil and gas-free trade zones between 2021 and 2025.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the authority, Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura, MFR disclosed this at a maiden media parley in Abuja on Wednesday.
OGFZA is the government agency responsible for promoting, securing and sustaining investments in the oil-and gas-free zones in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Kaura said OGFZA has gained 27 years of experience in regulating the petroleum sector special economic zones and has, within this period, achieved monumental successes.
Currently, he said OGFZA regulates eight free zones, and six of them are fully operational, while processes towards the taking off of two are at various stages of completion.
According to him, these zones are evolving well and are making impactful contribution to the nation’s economy.
”The zones includes Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone, Warri Oil and Gas Free Zone and Eko Support Oil and Gas Free Zone.
”Others includes Brass Oil and Gas Free Zone, Notore Oil and Gas Free Zone, Liberty Oil and Gas Free Zone, Bestaf Maritime and Industrial OGFZ and OGFZ-SBA Free Zone a newly declared zone with licence in progress.”
OGFZA boss said the authority had recorded achievements in quantitative terms, which has contributed significantly on the nation’s GDP in the last two decades.
He noted that it attracted foreign direct investment of 21.6 billion dollars.
According to him, it has technical skills to 35,330 Nigerians and generated direct employment for 41,085 persons and indirect employments for 164,000 persons at the same period.
”OGFZA has generated billions of revenue for government from 2018 to 2021, this includes the customs duty N119 billions for goods exported from free zones to customs territory.
”It also includes withholding tax of N10.4 billion for transaction carried out between free zone enterprises and non – free zone licensees and Value Added Tax(Vat) of N9. 5 billion for transaction carried out.”
He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to look into some of the issues affecting the agency that could stall the growth of business for investors in the country.
He said one of the major challenges bedeviling the free zone activities was the deplorable state of roads in Port Harcourt, and Akwa Ibom.
According to Kaura , the problem of regulatory interference due to lack of understanding of the nature of operation of free trade zones, he however said there was need to update the law setting up the authority to meet present day realities.
He also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to create an enabling business environment to attract more investors into the country.
OGFZA was established in 1996 as the first government agency in the world dedicated for the regulation of Special Economic Zone(SEZ) in the energy industry.
