The city of Calabar and the entire state is experiencing a Hong Kong type of economic growth, though at its early stages. Cross River is said to have achieved 57% ease of doing business. The State’s Investment Promotion Bureau(SIPB) through its one-stop investment centre(OSIC) has been providing assistance to incoming companies & investors.
31 companies are fully operational at the Calabar Free Trade Zone which has generated well over N50 billion to the Federal Government. 78 companies has registered with the free zone. Earlier in the month of(june), two Chinese trade delegations, Changchun City Business Group and Lianonig Chamber of Commerce visited the free zone, announcing their intention to invest there.
The Changchun City group said it would build a truck manufacturing and assembly plant. The group’s area of investments are solid minerals, automobile, agriculture, building materials & accessories, manufacturing & tourism.
GE’s entry into the free trade zone is topping up industrial investments in the state which now seeing upsurge in big-spend investments. Wilmer International of Singapore’s has invested $400million on a 50,000 hectares of land for an ultra modern oil palm plantation estate & a subsequent agric- processing factory. The investment has the capacity to employ 20,000 workers.
UNICEM’S $500M in a second production cement line at Mfamosing in Akamkpa local government area, this would take the company’s productive capacity to 5.0 million metric tons by 2016.
Oleo Chemicals & Biodiesel Manufacturing and Grains Processing &Merchandising; Brentex Petroleum, manufacturers of pipe mills, with investment plan of $300million. OCICL, a new cement firm is investing $500million, with an indirect 2,800 employment capacity.
the Oando Gas &Power and Genesis Electricity Limited, and Essar Power Limited, all which have a combined investment in excess of $1 billion.
Other upcoming industrial concerns includes a cocoa processing factory, to be owned by a international consortium of cocoa investors. The Tinapa Knowledge City (TKC), a one- stop ICT solutions hub that would house about 25 companies in the computer software and engineering.
