Industry: Steel Conglomerate to invest $500m in Ogun As $34bn Innovation Economy Beckons
…to employ 5,000 workers
The investment drive and economic development plans of the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration in Ogun State has received a boon as a steel conglomerate, African Industries Group, is set to invest over $500m into the state economy.
The chairman of the group, Mr Raj Gupta made this known at the weekend in an interview with newsmen shortly after a meeting with the governor, at his Oke Mosan Office, Abeokuta.
He said that the company which deals mainly in steel and aluminum is interested in growing its business in the state.
Gupta who further noted that the company currently has over 5,000 employees on its payroll, added that he was impressed with the level of infrastructural development embarked upon by the present administration in Ogun.
“We have many industries in the state and we are here to see how we can grow our investment further. We are employing 5,000 people in the state, and our group investment in Ogun State far exceeds 500 million dollars.
“I have to say I was very impressed so far with what we have seen as progress made by the present administration, our business is in the area of steel and aluminum,” he submitted.
Meanwhile, the state is poised to increase the number of tech startups in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by tapping into the $34b innovation economy following a strategic partnership with GetFundedAfrica.
In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State governor, Kunle Somorin, on Thursday, the partnership was to enable Ogun benefit from the huge venture capital flows into Africa.
Somorin said the partnership by the state through its Bureau of Information Communication Technology (BICT) is also to make Ogun, starting with Abeokuta, an innovation state and destination of venture capital flows, which according to him is in the fulfilment of Gov. Dapo Abiodun’s developmental initiatives and leveraging technology and innovation to build Nigeria’s first Silicon Valley.
He explained that GetFundedAfrica is a pan-African venture service platform that matches startups, investors, corporates & Ggovernments and helped African startups raise over $150m in 2021.
Quoting the Head of BICT and the Special Adviser to the governor on ICT, Dayo Abiodun, the statement noted that Ogun as the Nigeria’s industrial hub and home to the highest number of tertiary institutions in the country, is focused on unlocking a $34 billion innovation economy and happy to partner with GetFundedAfrica to achieve the ICT objective set by the governor.
The statement that further quoted the Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo, that the partnership is already yielding fruit as 20 startups are in the process of relocating to the Ogun Tech Hub in Abeokuta, also echoed the Chief Commercial Officer of GetFundedAfrica, Tunji Oke, that over the next 36 months, no fewer that 400 startups from across Africa would be brought and help Ogun to unlock billions of dollars in innovation.
“The first batch of 20 startups cut across verticals such as Fintech, Agritech, Healthtech, Software Development, Training and Talent Recruitment and are startups from Nigeria, Uganda, UAE, Kenya and Germany, will be helped by GetFundedAfrica with fundraising, mentors, coaching, corporates, media and more. The state will support with visa, insurance, office spaces, utilities and more.
“Startups can apply to be considered to access funding and be incubated in the tech hub using this link- https://forms.office.com/r/HXQ0vgQrdi”, the statement submitted.