Pres. Buhari approves free trade zone in Ekiti State

Ekiti State has joined the list of states with free trade zones in Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buhari signed off on the Ekiti Knowledge Zone.

Buhari signed the Ekiti Knowledge Zone after the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, requested for approval.

This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Ifedayo Sayo. He said the letter conveying President Buhari’s approval was signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari.

The letter was titled; ‘RE: Recommendation for Approval and Designation of Free Trade Zone Status in Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ) Situated on 208.949 Hectares of Land Located Ado-Ijan Road, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State’.

The approval was given in accordance with Section 1 (1) of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act Cap. N107 Laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.

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In the letter to the Minister of Trade, Gambari said: “I refer to your letter Ref.No., FMITI/CED/4748/Vol1 dated 22 February, 2023 on the above subject.

“Kindly note that Mr President has granted free zone status approval for the Ekiti Knowledge Zone located along Ado-Ijan road, Ekiti State on a parcel of land measuring approximately 208.949HA with coordinates 8042765.02m’N;761’ 244.963m’ E, in accordance with Section 1 (1) of the NEPZA Act Cap. N107 Laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.”

Aside from Ekiti State, Lagos and Kano are some of the states operating a free trade zone, which is an area carved out for businesses to grow exports, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and Domestic Direct Investments (DDIs).

Free trade zones also exempt businesses situated on the land from certain taxes. It also leads to an increase in employment, although Nigeria’s unemployment rate has been on the high in the last four years.

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