The Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Pepple III, CON, DSSRS, JP, Perekule XI, has called on the business community to identify with the Bonny Chamber of Commerce in order to take advantage of investment opportunities in Bonny Island.

The King made this call on Saturday, December 30, 2023 during his annual Royal Banquet held at the King Perekule Palace in Bonny, Rivers State.   

“We encourage everybody to take advantage of this opportunity. As far as you are a business person, you need the Bonny Chamber of Commerce.”

He posited that the chamber was a special purpose vehicle aimed at streamlining business activities and opportunities in the area, asserting that in the coming months and years, businesses that have not properly been registered with the Chamber of Commerce will be unable to carry out business transactions within the community.

“The Bonny Chamber of Commerce is a deliberate thing that we have done and it is not just for the sake of having a chamber, it is deliberately put in place to achieve a purpose.”

“… and where we are going, it might be difficult to do business here if you are not registered to our Chamber, despite who you are. If you do not identify with our chambers, you might find it difficult to do business in Bonny.”

He hinted that the big businesses, especially the oil and gas majors are also being encouraged to identify with the Bonny Chamber of Commerce with a view to converging opportunities and all necessary imperatives critical to scaling up the business environment in the area.

“We have an opportunity to register with the Chamber and work with the Chamber. The multinational companies are not excluded; we will go through all the processes necessary to ensure that all of them identify with the Bonny Chamber of Commerce.”

He appreciated the President of the Chamber, Constance Nwokejiobi, for her continued hard work and sacrifices for the chamber, expressing his satisfaction in the strides the Chamber has made so far, informing that through the efforts of the Chamber, Bonny Kingdom is currently affiliated with seven embassies including China and the United States of America.

Earlier, in her remarks, the President of the Bonny Chamber of Commerce, Constance Nwokejiobi stated that the Chamber will be modeling the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its mode of conducting and regulating businesses.

She explained that by mirroring the Dubai business structure, the Bonny Chamber of Commerce will have a lot more control over the businesses operating within Bonny Kingdom and this will aid the rapid development of the Kingdom as well as attract more businesses from within and outside the country as there is an established institution to monitor their businesses.

“We are mirroring the Dubai Emirate structure where the Emirates speak on all businesses coming into Dubai. Once you are signing up to register a business, you are signing up to the Chamber of Commerce and that puts control over everything that is happening. That is the system that we are moving into.”

According to her, the Bonny Chamber of Commerce looks to revitalize businesses in the area by building up itself as an institution that will attract foreign investors as well as tourists to the Kingdom, saying that this will bring Bonny into the global limelight through the Bonny Investment and Tourism Expo.

She highlighted that the Bonny Chamber of Commerce is the fourth in Nigeria to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and participated in the 13th World Chamber of Commerce Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, which, according to her, is an outstanding accomplishment.

“It is His Majesty’s vision that we should rise to the global view. Bonny Chamber of Commerce is the fourth in Nigeria to be registered to the International Chamber of Commerce. Having achieved that, we were able to participate in the 13th World Chamber Conference, which is not a small feat.

“We plan to launch the first Bonny Investment and Tourism Expo to showcase our Kingdom. We are not unmindful of the structures we have to put in place to ensure the success of this Expo and we are working on those structures.”

She reiterated the need for Bonny Kingdom to be more well-known, encouraging indigenes of the Kingdom to stand by her and her team by signing up to the Chamber and being on the frontline in the development of Bonny as they look forward to developing other aspects of the community.

Disclosing that the Chamber plans to develop Bonny Kingdom enough for tourists to be attracted as well as increase the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Kingdom, Nwokejiobi thanked the Bonny King for hand-picking the best men for the job, noting that this has ensured a smooth sail of her tenure so far as President of the Chamber.