Imo woos impact investors in employment-led industrial renaissance
BY GODFREY OFURUM & DIKACHI ELEMBA, IN OWERRI
- Investors can tackle economic deprivation, poverty
- Targets digital economy to open state to the world, says Amaeshi
Many of the social challenges experienced in the South East zone of Nigeria are mainly driven by economic deprivation and poverty, some stakeholders have observed.
And to mitigate the negative impacts of economic deprivation and poverty, the Imo State Government is wooing impact investors that can help arrest such challenges to come and invest in the state.
Pursuant to this, the state government is also formulating an industrial policy that is employment-led, to create jobs for young people and mitigate insecurity in the state.
Kenneth Amaeshi, a professor and the chief economic adviser to the Imo State Government, told Business A.M. in an exclusive briefing in Owerri, that the state is looking at the digital economy, as a possible next step to deepen the economic development of Imo State.
Amaeshi, whose professorship is in sustainable finance at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy and is also a visiting professor of leadership and financial markets in Africa at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom, observed that technology firms have overtaken oil and gas business in wealth creation.
He affirmed that Imo has a large population of talented young people to support a digital driven economy.
He affirmed that a digital economy is global and will open the state to the world.
“It helps you to transcend the limitations of space (or geography). Someone can stay in Owerri and earn money from overseas, you don’t need to travel.
“There are people here, who stay in their homes and they are working for companies that are not based here. And so, it will help a lot in addressing unemployment.
“And that’s what we are trying to do with our industrial policy,” Amaeshi told Business A.M.
Amaeshi further explained that Imo State Industrial Policy is one that is employment led, pointing out that many industrial policies tend to be investor led.
According to him, some of them were designed to lure investors in, adding, “yes it is a good strategy, but imagine a situation whereby the investors come in, make money, but don’t create jobs.
“So, the job element is always treated as a trickle down effect – a secondary consideration. The mentality here is we have investors and the jobs will come.
“But what we are trying to do now is to turn this mentality on its head, and use a different model, which is employment led.
“It doesn’t mean that we are not interested in investors that will bring in money, but we need money, wealth plus jobs.
“So, in that sense, it helps us to address the challenges of unemployment. And employment is an African problem.
“I read something recently that suggests that about 60 percent of African youths are unemployed or underemployed. You can now stretch that to different countries in Africa and states and Imo State is in Nigeria and Africa,” he said.
To create jobs and reduce unemployment, Amaeshi argued that any investment or industrial policy must prioritise industries that can solve these problems.