By ALEX ENEBELI

Renowned industrialists and investors in the South-East have expressed the willingness to key into Gov. Peter Mbah’s investment and economic growth initiatives for Enugu State.

The business moguls made the pledge on Sunday in separate speeches at the launch of the Enugu Investors Network (EIN), an initiative of the State Government for mobilising domestic investments.

They expressed satisfaction with the governor’s efforts aimed at rallying local domestic business leaders and de-risking the state’s business environment.

They aptly pointed out that investments go to where the risks are less and return on investment high.

Dr Sam Onyishi of Peace Group of Companies lauded Mbah for the initiative and called on other Igbo investors to think home.

Onyishi argued that the security of Igbo investment could only be guaranteed in their homeland in the long-term.

He commended the governor for the improved security in the state.

He said: “The government is thinking the same way I was thinking.

“The first thing that this government did was to work on the Monday sit-at-home.

“Two years ago, we did not go to work for 62 days.

“Last year, we did not go to work for 67 days.

“This year is going to be worse than that.

“Why I said that the government is thinking the same way I was thinking is because on November 23, 2013, I told my family that I was not going to make any investment that is worth more than N1 billion outside the South-East,” he said.

Onyishi further said that he was excited by the security situation in Enugu State.

He said, “I am happy with this government.

“This is the first time that anybody is inviting me to Enugu State to come and have this kind of heart-to-heart discussion with the governor seated too.

“The other ones were a kind of come, talk and go home. But this one is action.

“The governor says, ‘this is what we have and what we are going to do together’. It is straight to the point.

“We must be plain and frank with ourselves.

“So, I do not want to talk about what Nigeria is and what Nigeria is not.

“As far as I am concerned, I am made for where I come from. Charity begins at home.”

Contributing, the Chairman of Coscharis Group, Sir Cosmas Maduka, said the Group had since turned homeward, investing heavily in agriculture, among others, in Anambra State.

Maduka said he would be eager to explore any of the outlined investment opportunities in Enugu State.

“I want to thank the governor for thinking alike.

“However, security is a priority for a true investor, and it is the role of government to provide that.

“That is why I said that investment capital goes where it is safe.

“But you are on the right track.

“If opportunity presents itself, I will be interested, and that is why we are here,” Maduka said.

In a remark, the governor admitted that security is key to prosperity and economic growth.

He further said that the narratives about insecurity, economic underdevelopment, laxity and the lack of ambitious development initiatives must be changed because they did not represent the ideals of the South-Easterners.

Mbah underscored the imperative of regional cooperation for economic development.

According to him, a people could only get respect outside their land proportionate to the socio-economic growth in their own homeland.

“So, we now have a government in Enugu State that has expressed a humongous vision and ambition as to where we want to see the state in the next four to eight years under our watch.

“We proposed to grow this economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion to become one of the top players in Nigeria by GDP in the next four to eight years.

“This growth we envision in Enugu is not one that is going to come through the public sector.

“We expect that the growth would come from investments from the private sector.

“So, my intention here today is to elicit your engagement, your questions, and indeed your involvement on how we can grow Enugu’s economy and, by extension, the South-East economy,” Mbah said.

He recalled how the late Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, late Dr Michael Okpara, turned the regional economy around by assembling eminent business personalities, such as constituted in EIN.

Earlier, the Secretary to Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, and the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Adaora Chukwu, said the launch of the EIN underscored the fact that while it was important to look outward for global partnerships, the domestic business leaders remain key to Enugu actualising its potential.

“This administration plans to grow the economy from the inside to outside, putting domestic industry at the centre of our economic plans,” Onyia said. (NAN)

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