Emmanuel Ifeanyi 
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has urged all investors and business owners who had left the commercial city of Aba to return, as all challenges that forced their departure from the city are cut down drastically.
Otti said this at the weekend when he officially declared open the maiden edition of the Aba International Trade Fair at Aba Mega Mall complex in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State.
The Governor explained a lot has been done to restore the lost glory of Aba through extensive investments in road Infrastructure, security, waste management, social reorientation, and stakeholder engagements.
Describing Aba as a unique investment ground, Otti reiterated his call on all businesses that left Aba to come back as better business environment is now in place to allow them to flourish.
The Abia Governor also announced to businesses yet to discover the treasures hidden in Aba, to enter the city, assuring that they will discover that there is no better place to be than Aba.
“If you are seeking investment opportunities, Aba is an ideal destination, ripe with potential for development, from real estate to manufacturing, agriculture and hospitality.
“We are ready to provide all the support you need to build great success here”, Governor Otti stated and assured.”
He assured the participants that every part of the State was safe and secure for business despite minor disturbances at irregular intervals.
“Abia is very safe for business, so you will have nothing to fear in any part of the State you choose to visit, especially in the light of the drastic security measures we have placed in preparations for the yuletide.”
Otti disclosed that beyond the urban areas, the newly elected and sworn Mayors of the 17 LGAs of the State and their teams are ready to engage and receive investments in the areas of natural advantage.
He said that Abia and Aba have reached a very important point in its evolution as a major business destination in Nigeria and across the West African region.
Otti noted that although trade fairs had been held in the State in the past, this was the first time an international trade fair was being held in the State, stating that the event promised to be a harvest of great rewards for every stakeholder.
The chairman of the Planning Committee of the Trade Fair and Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade, Mr Nwaka Inem, while welcoming everyone to the 2024 Aba International Trade Fair, said that the Trade Fair is not just the first of its kind but also a “bold Statement to announce the return of Aba as a melting pot of commerce and entrepreneurship in West Africa.”
The Chairman of the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (ACCIMA), Geoffrey Uzoagbara, said that Abia had never had it so good until the emergence of Governor Otti as the Governor last year (2023).
He said that Otti’s reforms ranging from infrastructural development, construction and rehabilitation of roads, security, the ease of doing business, power, remodelling major markets, education and healthcare, confirm Aba is an investment destination to be further showcased by the joint International Trade Fair.
