By James Adamu
Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has named seven sectors his administration is banking on to pull fresh investment into the state and accelerate its industrialisation drive.
Otti unveiled the plan in Lagos on Thursday while speaking at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) “Meet the Governor” series, where he addressed business leaders on his administration’s theme of repositioning Abia for enterprise, industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
The sectors are agribusiness and agro-processing, trade and markets, creative and digital economy, manufacturing and industrialisation, small and medium enterprise growth, inclusive finance, and diaspora investment and innovation.
“Abia is open for business”
Declaring the state open for business, the Governor said his government had spent the last 39 months dismantling barriers to productivity and creating room for value creation, with the aim of making Abia a more attractive destination for investors.
He pointed to fiscal governance and infrastructure reforms as the backbone of that effort, noting that the state’s 2026 budget of N1.016 trillion devotes 80 per cent to capital expenditure — a figure he described as the highest per-resident capital spending in the country.
Otti also said the state’s projected internally generated revenue of N223.4 billion would be enough to cover recurrent expenditure, and cited Abia’s fourth-place ranking in the BudgIT States Fiscal Transparency League for the fourth quarter of 2025 as evidence of improved fiscal discipline.
The Governor said the state’s decision to allocate 15 per cent of its budget to healthcare had pushed it to the top of the national chart on health emergency preparedness, while a Phillips Consulting security assessment also rated Abia favourably on the safety of lives and property.
On infrastructure, he disclosed that 414 roads had been completed and 82 were ongoing, with more than 10,000 solar-powered streetlights installed across Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia.
He attributed Abia’s position as the state with the lowest public transportation cost per kilometre to sustained investment in road networks and green shuttle buses, saying the savings were cutting business overheads and turnaround time.
Otti listed opportunities across the plantation, processing, manufacturing and off-take segments of the economy, naming livestock ranching, dairy, cashew, cocoa and rubber under agribusiness.
In the industrial sector, he pointed to garment manufacturing, ceramics and leather works, while tourism prospects include Enyimba Hotels and Ibom Waterfall.
During a fireside chat, the Governor flagged the proposed Azumini-Obeaku Seaport as a future trade and logistics gateway, alongside plans for an industrial park and a medical city.
He said businesses that had previously left the state were returning, driven by lower transport, rental and security costs, as well as a rising population and public spending that were boosting consumer demand.
NBCC President Abimbola Olashore said Aba’s manufacturing heritage offered a strong foundation for industrial growth, but warned that investors would only commit capital where policies were predictable, institutions functional and infrastructure of good quality.
He said government’s role was to create an enabling environment, while the private sector should supply capital and expertise.
Discussion about this post