By Abdul-Kadir Abdullah
The Managing Director of the Edo State Investment Promotion Office (ESIPO), Ease of Doing Business Secretariat, Amen Odigie, today met with the Sustainable Trade Initiative Netherlands (IDH) to strengthen the existing partnership. The meeting held at ESIPO focused on exploring new avenues for collaboration, particularly in the context of ESIPO's 2025 plan.
In his response, the MD of ESIPO noted, " It is important that we collaborate even more at this time to achieve more. We are happy to attract more Sustainable initiatives"
A key area of discussion was the newly established Edo State One-Stop-Investment Centre (ES-OSIC), specifically the oil palm one-stop-shop. MD Odigie expressed gratitude for IDH's previous support, including the provision of a 60-inch screen for the ES-OSIC and other contributions towards the center's establishment. He emphasized the importance of continued collaboration with IDH to achieve greater success in sustainable development initiatives.
Mr. Ogwu Abraham, IDH Senior Programme Manager highlighted past achievements of the IDH-ESIPO partnership, such as the "Analysis of Key Investment Opportunities in Edo State Oil Palm Landscape" (2020), the "Edo State Green Growth Plan for Oil Palm Development" (2020), and the successful implementation of the Edo NISCOPS (National Initiative for Sustainable Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders). He also noted that the success of the Edo NISCOPS I led to the launch of NISCOPS II, a €3 million, five-year programme currently underway in the state.
The meeting was attended by key personnel from both organizations, including Soji Tella and Austin Ninyi from IDH, and various department Team Leads from ESIPO, such as Investment Promotion and Global Outreach, Aftercare and Inter-Ministerial Coordination, Investment Management and Risk Analysis, Ease of Doing Business, and Business Development and Export departments.
This renewed commitment between ESIPO and IDH signals a continued effort to promote sustainable economic growth and development within Edo State, with a particular focus on the oil palm sector as well as leveraging the opportunities from other partners of IDH outside Nigeria to push for Edo State to attract more Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).
