Background

Created out of the former Rivers State on October 1, 1996, Bayelsa is still a relatively young Nigerian state whose infrastructure development has been in response to the pace of socio-economic development. Presently, the government is offering opportunities for private sector participation in the form of individual investments and partnerships that, it hopes will contribute to rapid growth and development. Investment opportunities thus exist in the areas of housing and hospitality, commercial infrastructure development and telecommunications.

Housing & Hospitality

The large influx of businesses in Bayelsa, especially in the oil, banking, communication, commerce, education and civil service sectors, is increasing the state population, which places an urgent demand on accommodation. Investments in real estate, for building of new homes, hostels, office complexes and hotels at strategic locations are needed. Although developmental necessities may bring a number of area into focus for this type of investment, investors may presently target the state capital Yenagoa, Brass and Amassoma.

Markets & Commercial Buildings

Increased commercial activity in Yenagoa has created its own problems. The existing central market is congested and thus limits the stocking and selling of various goods. Itinerant traders, hawkers and illegal structures have sprung up, constituting a threat, not only to the city’s aesthetics but also to public order. This state government is looking for private investors to help build a well structured market in the state capital.
Also, individual investors can engage in the construction of shooping centres and warehouses around the city. Meanwhile, the imminent launch of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas project in Brass is bound to generate increased commercial activity. This should also greatly inform investors choice.

Telecommunications

Bayelsa also offers investment opportunities in telecommunications. More wireless networks, especially GSM, are required to boost the present loca area network by NITEL and the GSM network that operates in Yenagoa and other parts of the state to facilitate ease of communication and business growth.

Water Transport

About 45.16 per cent of Bayelsa’s 12,000km2 land area of covered by water. Boats, from hand-paddled canoe, ferries and speedboats, are therefore the main way of moving cargo and people around. Marine travel is expensive yet in high demand as all local government areas can be reached via the waterways.

The neighorring states of Delta, Rivers and Anambra are also accessible by water from Bayelsa. There is additional pressure to move goods between Port Harcourt and other neighouring commercial cities, as well as Bayelsa communities, especially Yenagoa. The oil industry has also created the need for a constant and rapid transport syste.

The expanding tourism sector creates an added demand, making passenger and cargo transportation by boat a particularly high-activity area to invest in. in the meantime, the Bayelsa State government is looking into providing transport on designated water routes. But the need for more investment in this area is till urgent.

Boat Building

The prominence of the water transportation network creates a potential for investment in the boat-building industry. Canoe-building is a major craft throughout the state, meeting the people’s water transport needs, especially rural dwellers. The same can be said for ferries, which have low fares and are regarded as safe.

However, speed-boats, made with plastic and fiber-glass hulls, are faster and preferred by urban dwellers and visitors. At present most of the locally made speed boats used in the state are built by Almarine and Epenal boat builders, both based in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. There are two boat building yards in Yenagoa but they are less well-known. This leaves lucrative room for investment in speed-boat building in Bayelsa State.

Ports

The deep-sea channels of the Nun River estuary in the Brass area provide the potential for development of a modern seaport in Bayelsa State. During the Atlantic slave trade, when the Portuguese, Spanish, French and British made contact with the Niger Delta, Brass became a leading city state in the region. Foreign traders used its port in Akassa to ship slaves and subsequently legitimate produce. The inland waterways are also navigable by light sea-going vessels. With the growing development of the oil industry and Nigeria’s export drive, a seaport in Bayelsa becomes a necessity. Meanwhile, the government is privatizing national seaports, including those in Lagos, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Koko, Bonny and Sapele. This is an indication that private participation is sought in this economic sub-sector. Presently the Agip oil export terminal at Twon-Brass serves as an export route for Nigeria’s oil.