Alaghodaro Summit: Edo fine-tunes strategy to become  manufacturing hub

·  Targets private capital to boost universal health coverage

With just two days to the kick-off of the maiden edition of Alaghodaro Investment Summit, organisers have said the session on manufacturing at the event will crystalise ongoing plans to re-invent Edo State as the manufacturing hub in Southern Nigeria.

They said that the plans are embedded in the Benin Industrial Park (BIP) project, which ground-breaking will hold on November 11, at Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, and is expected to house major manufacturing activities in the state.

A session on healthcare at the summit is expected to rethink healthcare-as-a-business versus healthcare-as-a-public service, to deliver Universal Health Care in the state, which is to be led by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire.

In a statement yesterday, the state government said that preparations are in top gear for the investment summit, which holds from November 10 to 12, at Edo Hotels, Okada Avenue, Benin City.

The state said the discussions on manufacturing, which will be led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), will be focused on identifying the policies and reforms required to strengthen the manufacturing sector as well as changes in policy and practices that are required to aggressively stimulate effective backward integration especially in the manufacturing and extractive sectors.

According to them, “with huge deposits of natural resources and a growing agricultural sector which could provide input for the manufacturing sector, Edo State is rightly positioned to become a manufacturing hub in the southern part of the country. Effective government policies and reforms are required to attract huge investments into the state’s manufacturing sector, strengthen backward linkages within the sector and ensure the production of quality outputs in a competitive manner.”

The session will be moderated by the President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, while the panellists include Chairman, BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu; Director General of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo; Representative of Guinness Nigeria Plc., Mojisola Akpata; Dr. Joseph Makoju of Dangote Group; Ayobambo Kunle Salami of International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Managing Director (MD), Coca-Cola, Ekuma Eze.

The statement noted that the session on healthcare will “explore the funding mix for the Edo Health Sector. It will unveil opportunities for leveraging technology and movable collateral register to expand access to capital, creating incentives for equity finance, deepening coverage through health micro-insurance, convergence with other verticals, developing health Credit guarantees.”

The session will be moderated by the former Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Prof. Michael Ibadin, and have panellists which include, Dr. B. R. Shetty of NMC; Osarumen Cole of MobiCure; Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo of Pax Herbal; Chinedo Ugwu-Chinwuba of General Electric Health; Dr. Johnny Ikimalo of Prime Hospital and Dr. Otabor Christopher of Alliance Hospital, Abuja.