SIR: For most of the developing world, resolution of the ideological debate that raged in the three decades of the 1960s1980s, took a middle path. The gospel of private sector driven economy which the Western monetary order upholds is problematic in third world societies where government dominates economic development. But while the need for a symbiosis in which governments help to grow the private sector to play bigger role in the economy may be appreciated, the will to act has been lacking.However Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has in the past five years, brought fresh vista to the public private partnership with a string of promising, if not successful ventures. It was the ambition of the governor on inauguration in 2014 to make Anambra State the first choice investment destination and most preferred location to site new industries. More specifically, the state had eyes set on taking the lead in the production of rice, cassava and fish, with agriculture making up 40 percent of the states GDP.Over the years, the Nigerian private sector had grown weary of government promises against the backdrop of policy inconsistency. Undue changes in government regulations and advertised incentives have had the effect of eroding confidence in governments economic initiatives. A potential investor has to further cope with bureaucratic bottlenecks in the system. Add to these the lack of critical infrastructure especially good roads and the basic challenges of entrepreneurship come into focus.From the Anambra State story, we find that leadership commitment is of equal importance as cognate experience to achieve breakthrough in the trying mix of publicprivate venture. It was not just devising a security architecture that offered reasonable safety of living; the attendant social stability flowing from good governance had to be felt. Engagement with the private sector on opportunities of worthwhile investment in the state followed and firmed up on leadership confidence, the investment rain started.To be sure, some of the associated ventures did not come to fruition. But among those that survived their gestation periods, Stine Rice Mill, Ufuma; Josan Mills, Umumbo; Lynden Integrated Farms, Igbariam and Coscharis Rice Farm & Mill, Igbariam stand out for their marks. They all share the common input of Anambra State Investment Protection and Promotion Agency, the business driver with which the Obiano regime has fasttracked investment. Land acquisition was facilitated through government intervention in the processes.Read Also:Willie ObianoAnother feather to honour-laden capIn each case, government equity stake stands at minority shareholding yet there has been displayed a shared sense of responsibility to the ventures that is unwritten in letters and that cannot be quantified in monetary terms.Lynden project is a N15b poultry farm engaged in production of high grade eggs and poultry meat. Spread out in 75 hectares of land, the dairy farm targets to produce two million chicks per year. It looks set to become the largest, automated poultry enterprise in the southeast and south-south on completion of its second phase. Upbeat on the economic importance of the poultry project, the state government is going the extra mile to ensure the full potentials of the scheme are harnessed. Governor Obiano has mandated increase in the states maize production from 70,000 137,000 metric tonnes a yeara move that will secure a source of feed for the poultrys birds.However, it is from the story of Coscharis Farms Limited that the primacy of a socially stable, business friendly environment comes forth clearly. With capacity to process 40,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice per annum, Coscharis Farms has added 4.6 percent to food production in Anambra State.The rebirth of Omor Rice Mill by Joseph Agro Industries under public private partnership with the state government seems all in a class of its own. Considered the biggest rice mill in Africa, it has a capacity of 130,000 metric tonnes milling capacity.Ifeanyi Afuba, Awka.
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