Acting Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mr Emeka Offor, on Thursday assured the Ekiti State government of the Commission’s support to drive Responsible, Inclusive, Balanced and Sustainable (RIBS) investments to the state.

He stated that Nigeria and indeed sub-national governments need to be deliberate in their investment attraction and retention approach to maintain a competitive edge, noting that due to increasing global competition for capital occasioned by the devastating impact of COVID, efforts of sub-national governments are now more critical to ensuring that Nigeria remains a destination of choice for investment.

He stated this in Ado-Ekiti during the maiden edition of the Ekiti State Economic Development & Investment Summit also known as Fountain Summit 2021, with the theme, “Investment Attractiveness and Economic Development: Lessons for sub-nationals”, hosted by Governor Kayode Fayemi.

The summit was declared opened by Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

Other dignitaries at occasion include Governors Nasir El Rufai, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Godwin Obaseki of Kaduna, Lagos and Edo States, respectively.

Also in attendance were investors and stakeholders in the state.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, delivered a good will message at the event.

Offor said: “Please permit me to assure you of NIPC’s continued collaboration with the Government of Ekiti State to drive ‘RIBS’ investments to Ekiti and indeed the rest of Nigeria.”

“At NIPC, we consider the subnational governments to be incredibly crucial in economic development, hence we developed the Nigerian Investment Certification Programme for States (NICPS) to improve the capacity of States to provide effective facilitation and after-care support to investors. Their success is our success, their growth our growth.”

“Also, through collaboration with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NIPC produced the ‘Book of States’, in an effort to drive greater attention to subnational investment opportunities in Nigeria. The ‘Book of States’ is a tool for investors’ location benchmarking in Nigeria,” he said.

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