See What Zuma Just Approved For Imo State People.

“As part of the outcome of our engagements, the South African President approved the setting up of a consulate in Owerri. This means people travelling to South Africa from the Southeast can process their visas and other related business documents directly in Owerri with much ease…

The Imo State business community, under the aegis of the Imo Economic Development Initiative, has said the visit of South African President Jacob Zuma was a major boost to the state’s economy.

The opposition has criticised the state government for spending public resources to host the South African President.
But a member of the business community and Chairman of the Germaine Group, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, told The Nation that the benefits from the visit far outweighed the cost and whatever the state government went through.
According to him, there was a robust engagement between the business community and the South African delegation, led by its President, where mutual agreements were reached in the power and gas sector, as well as the agriculture and hospitality

Chukwueke said: “As part of the outcome of our engagements, the South African President approved the setting up of a consulate in Owerri. This means people travelling to South Africa from the Southeast can process their visas and other related business documents directly in Owerri with much ease.

“The President also approved the establishment of a payment centre in Imo State, where all business payments are made and credit card obtained. This can be used for business transactions in South Africa. You can imagine the volume of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) that will accrue to the state and the number of jobs that will be created.”
The businessman also said President Zuma agreed on a partnership between the South African Airline and Imo International Cargo Airport.

Those in the Imo State team included Chairman of Diamond Bank Plc, Pascal Dozie; Chairman of Zinox Computer, Chief Leo Stan Eke; and Chairman of Innoson Motors, Innocent Chukwumah.

Chukwueke said: “We have, as a matter of fact, set up a 10-man committee made up of five people from each side. We will be having our first meeting next month in South Africa. We are looking forward to further engaging the South African government to see how we can harness their huge expertise in agriculture, mining and the automotive industry.”