Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has called on foreign and local investors to key into the free zone service provider’ scheme to boost investment in the sector.
The Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary of NEPZA, Soaga Oladayo, made the remark in Lagos, where she said the scheme would encourage foreign and local investors to establish in registered zones for ease and liberal way of doing businesses,but many businesses were ignorant of the gains of the initiative.
Noting that the purpose of its establishment was to diversify the economy and boost the non oil sector, she said the scheme was providing competitive incentive schemes, support facilities and services for the purpose of creating an enabling environment for export manufacturing and other commercial activities.
Oladayo who called on business owners to key into this initiative for growth, added that investors have a lot to gain from the free trade zones.
She said locating to any free zone in Nigeria will automatically confers upon the investor advantages, benefits and incentives which have been designed to create a business friendly environment.These according to her include complete tax holiday from all federal, state and local government taxes, rates, duties and levies. She said it offers “One stop approval for permits operating licence and incorporation papers, duty free, and tax free importation of raw materials and components for goods destined for real export.
“Permission to sell 100 percent of manufactured, assembled or imported goods into the domestic market. “Waiver of all expatriate quotas for companies operating in the zone, rent free land for the first six months of use…”
“In he zone when you fill your application form you pay the stipulated amount, when the form is reviewed with all necessary documents approved, you will be issued a licence withing five days. You don’t need CAC certificate to operate you use our license..
“As an investor in the zone, you enjoy facilities, security, good road network, telecommunications.
She noted that NEPZA works with other government agencies like Customs, processing goods., immigration, they are in charge of processing visa for our expertrates.
SON and NAFDAC examine the products in the zones and CBN, provides offshore banking for our investors..
Oladayo discloses that presently, the scheme has 45 registered zones in Nigeria and 13 registered free zones in Lagos, among them are LADOF, Lekki, Snake island, Ikeja and others..
“We don’t want to be a consuming nation, but a producing nation. With the creation of this scheme, the federal government has been able to create employment for our youths. When machines are imported, the human skill is needed so people are trained.
We register foreign and local investors into the zones to produce and manufacture.
“Some take NEPZA to be the export promotion Council, but we have different mandates. While the council is for SMEs that are single exporters, NEPZA mandate is to licence free zones, monitor, regulate them and guarantee for exportation.
She noted that the scheme has been able to gain ground, reduce the bottlenecks that were clouding it.
“We used to have issues with the Customs because they were not conversant with the scheme, but after several stakeholders meetings and intergovernmental meeting, they have realized we are working to achieve the same goal of industrialisation diversification of the economy for the good of all.
One of our major success stories is the power oil produced in one of the Lagos trade zones, Erisco, goodwill tiles, Skyron.”