Nigeria is offering incentives to businesses that invest in the development of a leisure resort in a bid to boost the profile of its free trade zone, which is expected to the transform the small town of Calabar into the Dubai of Africa.
The $131m Tinapa project, which was conceived in August 2002, is bringing to fruition the objective of encouraging trade between African states.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo pledged the federal government's support for the project to a 30-strong South African delegation , who were on a fact-finding mission to Nigeria's Cross River State, southeast of the country.
Representatives of SA's financial institutions, property development companies, hoteliers and retailers formed part of the delegation exploring prospects in the project.
The Cross River State is pumping billions of dollars into the development of infrastructure like roads, water, electricity, telecommunication facilities and sanitation.
The zone is being constructed on 270ha of land nestled in dense mangrove vegetation on the banks of the Calabar river as it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The state plans to attract investors to buy into the development of
five- and three-star hotels, residential complexes, shopping malls, entertainment and sports facilities .
The Cross River State government has given companies incentives that include no taxation, no duty and no restriction on the repatriation of profits.
The zone's facilities includes its own fire brigade, back-up generators for electricity, a fully equipped clinic and more than 900 telephone lines with an expandable capacity of up to 3000 lines.
It is linked to the Calabar port , which is being deepened by 10m to carry bigger ships. The free trade zone has its own security and judicial facilities.
It also has a one-stop service office that assists investors with immigration requirements and business applications onsite. It guarantees it can set up a business within two weeks and business licence costs range from $2000 to 8000, renewable annually .
Manufacturers pay an average duty of 5% on raw materials when selling to Nigerian companies.
However, businesses especially in the clothing industry and supermarkets have raised concerns about Nigeria's import prohibition laws which, they claim, would need Obasanjo's personal intervention if they are to play any part in the development of the resort. The legislation was aimed at forcing business in Nigeria to buy only from local manufacturers .
Cross River State trade commissioner Sam Anani said Obasanjo had options to open the doors to companies such as Shoprite Checkers and Woolworths, which have expressed an interest in buying a stake in the shopping mall .
"These businesses need not worry at all because we have the president's full support, which means Tinapa would either be exempted from the legislation or the entire law could be reviewed in the greater interest of proving the government's commitment to the African Union," Anani said.
He said Nigeria was charting a new business ethic and all regions on the continent would soon emulate the "new culture of trading openly as equals".
Obasanjo thanked President Thabo Mbeki for backing the Tinapa project, which is named after a popular local fish delicacy.
"You see what happens when people talk, together we can move mountains,"
said the governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke.
He expressed his government's enthusiasm for and commitment to the project, saying companies that invested now would be remembered as pioneers in the town's economic growth, helping the free trade zone take off: "To those who have decided to put their best foot forward, we assure you, you won't regret it."
The Calabar free trade zone already has 80 manufacturing companies, involving 142 investors dealing in iron and steel, computer assembly, wood technology, pineapple and rubber processing.
