Vice-President Kashim Shettima has stressed the need to strengthen state governments, noting that regional prosperity depended on local leaders converting untapped potential into bankable investment opportunities.
Shettima who spoke on Friday in Calabar during the sixth African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network (AfSNET) Investment Conference 2026 also urged subnational governments to leverage their unique competitive advantages to drive economic transformation.
“At the state, provincial, county and municipal levels, roads connect producers to markets, electricity powers industries, and agricultural resources are transformed into valuable products.
“Businesses create opportunities, and communities experience the benefits of economic growth.
“National policies and continental frameworks provide direction, but their success depends significantly on what happens at the subnational level,” he said.
Shettima described states and regions as more than administrative units, saying they were economic actors, investment destinations, production centres and gateways to regional and continental markets.
“We must continue to strengthen the capacity of our states to identify their competitive advantages, develop investment-ready projects, attract private capital and build partnerships.
“These partnerships must deliver sustainable economic outcomes,” he added.
Earlier, Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River said the conference held significant economic and social importance for the state.
He said Cross River had become the second Nigerian subnational government to host the event, after Lagos State hosted it in 2022.
Otu recalled that AfSNET was established through the facilitation of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to promote regional integration.
He said the network was designed to harness Africa’s economic strengths and reduce the continent’s economic and trade dependence.
“Since its main focus is intra-African trade and economic diversification, we need to ensure that our cash crops and rare earth minerals are processed here in Africa.
“The commodities should also move freely across borders to fellow African countries.
“Our farmers and miners should reap the benefits of adding value to their products,” he said. (NAN)
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