The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) is to set up the structure that will help Eko Support Services Limited, an Apapa, Lagos-based oil and gas free zone, to fully function as and enjoy the complete benefits of an oil and gas free zone.
Managing Director of OGFZA, Umana Okon Umana made the regulatory plan known while visiting Eko Support during the week.
Umana said that OGFZA would help Eko Support to take full advantage of its free zone licence and exercise the full authority of its free zone status by adopting a standard operating procedure that has been fully tested at Onne Free Zone and keyed into the Executive Order of the federal government on the Ease of Doing Business.
“A licence is a piece of paper, what you make of the licence is the issue,” Umana told the Eko Support team led by Seni Edu, the general manager of the free zone.
“We have a model in Onne that is working. We would adapt the model and even improve on it by setting up a structure to run the system” for the benefits of the operator, clients and government.
He said that OGFZA would have to interface with government for the free zone operator and investors with regard to taxes, immigration, customs, security and other regulatory issues by setting up a one-stop shop infrastructure to enhance the ease of doing business in the zone.
In a presentation to the OGFZA team, Edu, listed a number of concerns that he wanted OGFZA to look into, including space constraint and policy direction.