*Photo: VP Kashim Shettima (middle) with the governors*
Vice President Kashim Shettima has led six state governors on an assessment tour of the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone, GDIZ, near Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
The delegation included Governors Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, Dikko Umar Radda of Katsina State and Umar Namadi of Jigawa State.
They inspected the zone’s integrated textile and agro-processing facilities, where locally produced cotton is converted into yarn, fabric and finished garments, while cashew and other agricultural commodities are processed for domestic and export markets.
GDIZ is a 1,640-hectare public-private industrial platform developed by the Beninese government and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms. The zone accommodates textile, garment, cashew, soybean and other manufacturing operations, with its official profile reporting more than 25,000 jobs created since construction began in 2021.
On arrival, the Vice President and the governors were briefed on the zone’s structure, production capacity and investment potential by Benin’s Minister of Tourism and Foreign Trade, in charge of Industry and the Promotion of Private Investment, Mr Olushegun Adjadi Bakari.
The visit forms part of Nigeria’s effort to draw practical lessons from Benin’s success in linking agriculture with manufacturing, attracting private investment and converting raw materials into higher-value finished products.
The governors expressed their readiness to explore similar industrial projects in their states, noting the opportunities for public-private partnerships, youth employment, technology transfer and stronger linkages between farmers and manufacturers.
Vice President Shettima described the GDIZ model as an important lesson for Nigeria’s cotton, textile and garment industry, stressing that Africa must retain more value from the processing of its agricultural resources.
“While the global cotton industry is worth about $370 billion, Africa benefits from only about one per cent of that amount,” the Vice President said, adding that reviving Nigeria’s textile value chain could generate millions of jobs, expand non-oil exports and stimulate economic activity across the country.
To commemorate the visit and underscore the importance of environmentally sustainable industrial development, the Vice President also planted trees within the industrial zone.