| Investors can fly home capital,profit
at Calabar Free Trade Zone
By OMODELE ADIGUN
Thursday,
March 29, 2007
 |
•Mr
Reuben Famodile
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
|
A visit to Calabar Free Trade Zone
will probably convince one that African Taiwan is in the making right here in
Nigeria. According to its General Manager, Mr Reuben Taiwo Famodile, the zone
can currently boast of companies from virtually all the sectors of the economy.
He added: "So far, we have 100 registered companies and 36 are in
operation. The largest number of the firms are from China." In this piece,
he explains why the investors can repatriate both their capital and profit.
Calabar
Free Trade Zone
Here at Calabar Free Trade Zone , we are in a country
within a country. The zone was commissioned in 2001. That year, it was officially
converted from Calabar Export Processing Zone to Calabar Free Trade Zone. With
this name change came a change in concept as the government allowed the investors
of the zone not only to dedicate themselves to export production but also to any
or all of the following activities: assembly, distribution, packaging and repackaging.
The rest are warehousing, providing services and maintain a representative office.
Coupled with the new legislation which allowed free zone investors to sell up
to 100 per cent of their products in the domestic Nigerian market, this broadening
of activities became a powerful attraction for many new investors.
The Calabar
Free Trade Zone is located about one kilometre from the Port of Calabar which
makes sea transportation easily accessible. The port itself is 93km from the open
sea. You see, one of the Federal Government’s developmental tools for promoting
exports and for generating the much-needed foreign exchange is the establishment
of the free trade zones, of which Calabar Free Trade Zone is one. The idea is
a sound one because it is going to generate employment and improve skills since
the factories located there are to operate at high level of skills. Since the
free trade zone is to rely on the local economy for the supply of raw materials
for the industries, this will enhance the idea of backward integration of the
economy. The nation is abundantly blessed with enough natural resources to feed
the factories. Natural rubber, wood of all kinds, cocao, baryte, lime, and tropical
and citrus fruits are just some of the minerals, raw materials and ingredients
that are found in Nigeria.
Size
Calabar Free Trade Zone has 200 hectares
of land. We have 68 hectares from the Cross River State Government. We made concerted
efforts with the support of the Federal Government to build it up to this level.
And because of its attraction, which is predicated on friendly investment environment
from the Federal Government reforms, it offers an excellent place to produce,
assemble, or simply repackage products and distribute it within Nigeria, the ECOWAS
countries or to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.
Market
With
approximately 129 million inhabitants, Nigeria has 15 per cent of the entire population
of Africa living within its borders and by far the largest single market in Africa.
Calabar Free Trade Zone is the ideal departure point for this vast population.
In fact, most of the investors came down here because of the large market provided
by the country’s enormous population. Calabar Free Trade Zone is fully developed,
Onne Oil and Gas is fully developed. The rest 13 are still under development..
The policies and incentives we have here are not available in the domestic economy.
Every investor is treated as a foreign investor by the virtue of the Act that
set up the zone. The registration we give is official. You don’t need any
other from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Our licence allows you to do
business . All you do is to come with your dollar or Naira since we operate in
both currencies, buy your application form, which costs N50,000 (about $500.00).
We will give you land at 60 cents per square metre. Within four to five months,
if you don’t relocate to the zone and take physical possession of your land,
your licence will be revoked.
Companies are exempted from tax but pay 1 per
cent duty on raw materials used for production .The land Lease expires in 99 years.
Investors
always come to take up the space provided. We always tell them that they are free
to bring their labour from anywhere. Although a large number of employees here
in the factories are Nigerians because our cost of labour is cheaper than anywhere
in the world. Again, you have free repatriation of all your capital, profits and
dividends to your home country any time
Population
At
present, we have companies from virtually all sectors of the economy. So far,
we have 100 registered companies and 36 are in operations. The largest number
of the firms are from China. If you export your products, you don’t pay
any duties on them. But if you take them into the domestic economy, you will pay
the appropriate levies, taxes and duties. We have power station and anywhere you
are, you are supplied with power. And we have company working for 24 hours.
Why
investors come
They tell us it is to take advantage of Calabar’s
location to distribute to the eastern and northeastern parts of the country where
much of the population lives. A well-developed North-South infrastructure and
network of roads allows for easy access to the entire region. Calabar is accessible
by one of the best networks of roads in Nigeria and the Margaret Ekpo International
Airport in Calabar provides excellent air transportation to the rest of Nigeria
and the world.
Calabar is a very peaceful city, and enjoys a very low crime
rate and a safe environment in which to do business.
His Excellency, Mr Donald
Duke, the governor of Cross River State said, where Calabar Free Trade Zone is
located is extremely pro-business and gets personally involved with the goings-on
in the zone. He holds regular meetings in his office with investors to find out
how he can best support them.
The University of Calabar and Polytechnic Calabar
graduate more than 60,000 students each year in a variety of fields including
business administration, computer science, engineering and chemistry, among others.
This ensures that investors coming to Calabar will have an abundant educated labour
force at their disposal. Research support is also available from the university
for free zone investors.
The following facilities are available to investors
in the Zone: customs and immigration office, a branch of the Nigeria Export-Import
Bank (NEXIMBANK), bank and post office, telecommunications (960 telephone lines
and internet capability), clinic and special-events centre, excellent infrastructure
of internal roads, fire-fighting facilities. Others are potable water facilities
(300,000 litres per day),transportation service, trash collection service and
electrical back-up system of 9.3 megawatts.
Incentives
The
Federal Government has passed an aggressive Free Zone Law which has created a
business-friendly environment benefiting from the following incentives:
Complete
tax holiday for all federal, state and local government taxes, rates, customs
duties and levies. One-stop approvals for all permits, operating licences and
incorporation papers. Duty-free, tax-free import of raw materials for goods destined
for re-export. Duty-free introduction of capital goods, consumer goods components,
machinery, equipment and furniture. Permission to sell 100 per cent of manufactured,
assembled or imported goods into the domestic Nigerian market.
When selling
into the domestic market, the amount of import duty on goods manufactured in the
free zone is calculated on the basis of the value of the raw materials or components
used in assembly not on the finished product. Investors also enjoy 100 per cent
foreign ownership of investments,100 per cent repatriation of capital, profits
and dividends. Companies operating in the zone have waiver on all import and export
licences as well as on all expatriate quotas
There is prohibition of strikes
and lockouts, rent-free land during the first six months of construction.
In
addition, the government is constantly improving its policies and modifying them
to favour the investor. Since 1992, for example, the ceiling of 25 per cent domestic
sales of the goods produced in the free zone has risen, first to 50 per cent,
then to 100 per cent where it now stands according to the law. |
