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Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has assured the international business community that the state government has neutralized all forms of banditry and enthroned a conducive business environment.

Executive Governor of Zamfara state, Gov Bello Matawalle

The remark is contained in a press statement signed by Yusuf Idris, the Director-General, Press Affairs to the governor, and made available to journalists in Gusau on Thursday.

The statement said Matawalle gave the assurance in a paper he presented on the state’s investment potentialities at the Africa Investment Summit which held between Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 in New York, USA, at the end of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

“The governor informed the top World Business Class that his administration has in the last four months of its existence brought an end to the hitherto decade long banditry  which led to the death of hundreds of citizens in the state, offset over 500 communities and led to the displacement of over 37,000 persons as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

“Having done this, the administration established a highly conducive environment for business especially with the large deposits of untapped mineral resources in the largely agrarian state.

“He said, the state is in the leading position in the production of sorghum in which Nigeria leads other countries by about 70 percent in the West African sub-region.

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“Gov. Matawalle who assured the business class that the state has large silos for products stored in each of its 14 local government areas, said, the state stands as the second-largest producer of groundnut.

”It is also the third-largest producer of cotton and the second-largest producer of tobacco while it also occupies leading positions in the production of food crops such as millet, maize and rice as well as cash crops like groundnut, cotton, beans, tomatoes, pepper and onions.

“He said although the federal government controls solid minerals deposits in the country, the state which has over 50 percent of the 34 minerals catalogued by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development can in collaboration with traditional rulers provide an enabling environment for mining purposes of the large untapped high-quality mineral deposits.

”These include chromate which is only found in the two local government areas of Anka and Talata Mafara of the state in the whole country,” the release said.

According to the governor’s aide, in spite of the low level of investment in the state’s mining sector, it is estimated that gold mining alone can generate over 400 million US Dollars annually in the state if tapped.

He, therefore, extended the state government’s invitation to the World Business Moguls to come and invest in the state as it had widely opened its arms for all legitimate businesses.

Source: NAN

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