Umana commends NASS on move to amend OGFZA, NEPZA laws

The managing director of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), Mr Umana Okon Umana, has commended the National Assembly for taking steps to amend the principal Acts of both the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and OGFZA.

Speaking in an interactive forum with editors of national newspapers in his office in Onne during the weekend, Umana said his expectation was that when the amendments are passed they would remove imperfections in the two laws, thereby putting both OGFZA and NEPZA on the path to fulfilling their mandates for the good of the economy and benefit of all Nigerians.

Umana said efforts to amend the laws have come at the right time when the Federal Government is focused on the drive to diversify the economy. He explained that while the amendments would deepen specialization and efficiency in the oil and gas sector, they are at the same time expected to strongly encourage investment in the non-oil sector.

He briefed the editors on OGFZA’s recently unveiled 3-year strategic roadmap which aims at growing investment in the oil and gas free zones by 50 per cent in the next three years. He said the roadmap reflected the vision of the oil and gas free zone agency to be the premier agency of government for the promotion of investment in the nation’s oil and gas free zones.

Umana said one of the means to more investments in the free zones is by way of more access to OGFZA through its repackaged and robust website and the publication of a biweekly newsletter to enhance interaction with existing and prospective investors. He added that the drive for new investments would be facilitated by a corporate culture of integrity, respect for investors and due process, transparency and accountability, as well as passion for and customer-centric engagement with investors.

He said the oil and gas free zones have had a track record of success in attracting investments, having raked in more than $20 billion worth of investments since inception and created more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs. On the revenue side, the OGFZA MD said between January 2010 and December 2015, the Nigerian Custom Service generated revenue of N143.2 billion from the oil and gas free zones alone, while the Nigerian Ports Authority generated$2.1 billion and N19.3 billion also from the oil and gas free zones.