Agriculture

Gombe is a major food basket in Nigeria. Most of the 20,266km2 landmass is cultivable. About 60% of the population are engaged in agriculture. Year round cultivation is possible in some parts of the state due to favourable weather and an extensive irrigation programme. There are three dams in the state, namely, Dadinkowa, Balanga and Cham with a combined capacity of about 1.85 million cubic meters of water. Plans are afoot for the construction of three additional dams which would significantly enhance the total land area available for irrigation and increase the tonnage of fish that is harvested from the permanent bodies of water in the state.

Dadinkowa Dam which is the biggest of the three existing dams, irrigates about 6,200 hectares of farmland yearly and can support the production of more than 30,000 tonnes of grains including rice, maize and groundnuts as well as 5,700 tonnes of cotton and up to 20,000 tonnes of fish annually. Gombe is the largest grower of cotton in Nigeria with an output of 500,000 metric tonnes per annum.

A number of food and cash crops and livestock are produced in the state. These are basic raw materials that can support various agroallied industries.

They include:

Water Supply

The State Administration is investing efforts and resources to tap into the water resource potentials of the state and exploit the benefits of the hydrological infrastructure already in place. Beyond providing irrigation water to meet agricultural production targets, the three dams are central to government's efforts at providing portable water for domestic and industrial use. Private investors are needed to work with government to pipe water into homes and offices. The water supply component of the dam has already been exploited by the present adminstration of Governor Muhammadu Goje. A complex, multi billion Naira water work project called Gombe Township and Regional Water Project was embarked upon and executed to a successful completion during the Governor's first term of office. The project generates 50,000 cubic meter of water daily which satisfies the consumption requirements of the people of Gombe metropolis and environs. The value of this project is better appreciated if it is realizec that Gombe the capital of Gombe State has been suffering from acute water shortage for a long time before now.

Power Generation & Solid Minerals

The multi-purpose Dadinkowa Dam is Nigeria's second largest dam after kainji. It has sufficient hydropower generation capacity to meet the requirements of the six North-East states of Borno, Yobe,Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe. However, its this hydro-power potential is yet to be exploited. Although the generating house has since been completed, turbines and other ancillary hydro-power generating equipment have not been installed.

The Government of Gombe State is determined to actualize the potential of the dam in terms of supplying, ample, uninterrupted power to the states of the north-east sub region together with the corporate entities, exisiting or setting up therein. This underlies our invitation to investors in the power sector to take advantage of the opportunity by providing the neccessary turbines to generate and market power to the state and zone.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has also initiated plans to tap into this resource with a view to raising the level of power available to the national grid. Consequently, it commissioned a feasibility study on the subject as a basis for inviting capable private sector operators to complete and manage the project on a Build, Operate and Transfer basis. The government will work to secure all neccessary approvals and support the marketing efforts of any interested private power producer inorder to guarantee appropriate returns.

Gombe State is home to a variety of solid minerals from industrial minerals and also rocks such as clay, limestone and gypsum to gemstone like aquamarine and energy fuel minerals like coal. Much of these are yet to be exploited. The only exceptions are coal, limestone and gypsum. Limestone and gypsum are now being minimally mined to service the local manufacturer of cement in Nigeria.

Only recently, coal was discovered in commercial quanitites in the region of Maigana village in Akko Local Government area of the state. The Ashaka Cement Company which operates in the state. The Ashaka Cement Company, which operates in the state has already started exploiting this mineral as a new energy source to power its operations. The Federal Government of Nigeria has also initiated plans to join in the exploitation of this mineral with a view of strengthening the power output of the national grid.

The five cement plants in Nigeria, with a combined output of approximately 15 million tonnes per annum, source their limestone and gypsum requirements locally. Gombe accounts for about 34 percent of total national limestone production and more than 90% of the gypsum production in the country. 35 known minerals exist in commercial quantities in the state. They include: Industrial Minerals and Rocks: Clay limestone, kaolin, silica sand, lead is available in substantial quantities granite, talc, diatonite, hulites, barites, mica,bentonite and calcite. Metallic Ores: Galena spalerite, iron ore, opal, feldspar, copper, Gemstone: Aquamarine, sapphire, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, amethyst Energy/Fuel: Coal & Uranium. Also Gombe State lies within Chad Basin where recent mineral prospecting studies have indicted the availaibility of substantial hydro-carbon deposits.

The State Government has recruited the services of the Department of Geology at the University of Maiduguri to undertake a detailed geological study to establish the exact quantities of these minerals

Industries

The industrial landscape of Gombe State is dotted by a handful of industries with Ashaka Cement Plc as the most outstanding. Other industries include the two cotton ginneries in the State Capital Gombe and a third in Kumo, Akko Local Government Areas. In Kumo, The ginneries process locally produced cotton into lint that are sold to textile firms across the country. The Gombe Oil Seed Processors Limited, a cottage industry, process cotton seeds from the ginneries into edible oil and cakes for animal feeds.

A government owned fertilizer blending plant was recently commisioned by the Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Manto Processing Company, a private company, processes tomatoes and mango into juice. The state is encouraging more of such initiatives either solely or in partnership with its investment arm, GSIPDC. The company involved in a number of new companies, including Niko Plastic Company under joint agreement with a Korean firm Hyun Sung Company. Jewel Spring Water is another joint venture between the Gombe State Investment and Property Development Company (GSIPDC) and Hyun Sung Hydraulic Company to bottle spring water

Housing Development

As a young state, Gombe needs quality housing to meet both its residential and commercial needs. GSPIDC has been mandated to address the accomodation problems in the state. To strengthen the company, government has transferred ownership of all its housing estates to the company. On the short to medium term, GSIPDC is developing or promoting several housing estates/projects in the state Shongo Housing Estate is the first in this regard. It is being developed with the help of a loan facility secured from Tanzania based Company Shelter-Afrique. Three phases comprising of 50 Housing units is being developed and will also be available for sale to interested members of the public as well as private sector organisations and individuals.

GSPIDC is planning to construct a 300 unit housing estate along Dukku road in order to meet the challenges of the ever rising need for housing accomodation in Gombe metropolis. In anticipation of increasing demand pressure for decent housing accomodation in Gombe metropolis, GSIPDC has decided to construct a substantial number of housing units in each of the eleven local governments in the state.

Underlining the concern here is that housing accomodation should be available to any investor(s) who may opt tot take advantage of the bountiful investment opportunities in the state by setting up or promoting a business venture(s) in the state. To assist the growing number of lecturers and staff taking up appointments with the New Gombe State University settle down speedily, GSPIDC has concluded arrangements to construvt 50 Housing units and make them available to the authorities of the university on mutually agreeable sales or rental terms.

GSIPDC is seeking for investors in the housing and property development sector to build as well as sell houses in the state. A recent housing demand profile in the capital indicates that up to 5,000 houses are urgently needed to accomodate senior public officers and members of the growing business class in Gombe. Furthermore the company has obtained a mortgage loan facility with which a 240 unit Tumfure Housing Estate (phase 1) is now being developed. Equally a private firm Ashdene Ltd is developing another Housing estate consisting of 500 Houses in the state capital.

Tourism & Leisure

With its scenic landscape and tourism resources, plus a pleasant and accomodating people, Gombe has the potential to become a major tourism destination in Nigeria. There are various natural attractions, historical sights and landscapes. They include Sultan Attahiru's Grave thumb of Buba Yero ( The founder of Gombe Emirate), Bima Hills (elegant land form on which some Muslim claim the mahdi (Mesaniah) will first appear), the Kanawa Plantation( famous for its perennial natural green vegetation, temprature and cold spring), kilang hills and the Dadinkowa Dam.

Gombe International Airport

The present administration in Gombe State has constructed a new international airport to cater for the domestic and international air travelling needs of its citizens. Commercial flights are envisaged to begin at the airport within 2008. Already chartered flights are taking place to and from the airport. The airport is stied at Lawenti village soe 10 kilometers away from Gombe. With the new airport, investors wishing to visit Gombe state could soon access it by Air from several points in Nigeria.

Roads & Infrastrucutures

Since coming into office 2003, the present administration has constructed over 50 asphalt laid roads with ( proper concrete drainages in each case) to ease transport mobility in the state capital Gombe. In the same vien, more than 30 other roads have been constructed in Local Governments and rural areas of the state. More of such roads are being planed for both Gombe metropolis and the rural areas that are not, as yet served by mordern roads.

Hospital

Here too, the present administration has performed creditably well, it has renovated and reequipped the Specialist Hospital in Gombe State to an acceptable national standard. It has also built and commissioned new hospital in Debe Nafada, the third hospital is being built in Talasse. The general hospitals in Kaltungo, Billiri and Kumo have been comprehensively renovated and equipped