Re-positioning Nigeria As Investors’ Haven

With its enormous natural and human resources, Nigeria ordinarily, qualifies to be an investors’  haven.  Investment opportunities are indeed limitless for a perceptive entrepreneur.

This salutary leverage notwithstanding, the nation’s investment profile has been somehow chequered, largely as a result of what some economists describe as “inconsistencies” in policy formulation and implementation.

These drawbacks, they insist, had shaken investors’ confidence, created unfavourable business climate, thus forcing many private firms to close shop prematurely.

Against this backdrop, the National Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), recently organised a national conference in Abuja, where stakeholders brainstormed on ways to boost the investment climate in the country, in line with the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The conference’s theme was — “Transforming the Nigerian Economy to Enhance Growth and Development Through Direct Investment.”

It was attended by stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including state investment promotion agencies, federal and state ministries, departments and agencies, which are responsible for investment-related policy formulation and implementation.

Members of the diplomatic corps were not left out in the summit, which also critically examined the prospects and challenges for foreign investors particularly.

According to Malam Mustafa Bello, Executive Secretary of NIPC, Nigeria is a place to make an investor’s destination, largely because of its limitless resources and opportunities.

He described the conference as being particularly unique as it involved members of the diplomatic corps for the very first time.

“Permit me to state here that this year’s NCI is unique in the sense that for the first time in the history of the conference, we are having members of the diplomatic corps.

He stressed the imperative to adopt measures that would make the country the preferred investment destination among the emerging markets of the world, adding that government was determined to create the favourable grounds.

Bello said the conference would evolve ways of diversifying the economy, while he called on stakeholders to recommend ways to boost investments in the country.

Against the backdrop of various socio-economic reforms that are ongoing in the country, the conference aimed to make the nation’s economy more competitive, since the bid to attract the desired foreign and domestic investments needed to diversify it.

“I urge you all, particularly the international community, to proffer measures and recommend international best practices that would stimulate investors’ interest in the country’s economy,” Bello said.

He assured investors of government’s support to enable them to “navigate through legal and administrative framework for doing business in Nigeria“.

Alhaji Garuba Ibrahim, former Executive Director of Small and Medium Enterprise Managers Ltd. — a fund management company, expressed the viewpoint that “micro, small and medium-scale enterprises are the bedrock of the nation’s economy”.

He challenged the stakeholders to evolve ways to properly harness the potentialities of the enterprises to create jobs and generate wealth.

Mr. James Ebuetse, Director, Policy Advocacy and External Relations, NIPC, believed that there had recently been increased foreign investors’ interest in virtually all sectors of the economy.

He outlined the sectors as oil and gas, agriculture and telecommunications.

Ebuetse expatiated that the reviewed Mining Act, for instance, sought to bring more foreign investors into the solid mineral sector, while similar attention was also given to the Information Technology (IT), education and power sectors, where more licenses had been given.

Many participants expressed the viewpoint that the present mono structure of the nation’s economy did not augur well as the continued reliance on the oil sector was fraught with danger.

Mr Ode Faustinus , Deputy Director, Investment and Consultancy in the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), is one such persons who felt that there needed to be a radical shift from the present order of oil-based economy.

In Fautinus’ opinion, other resources abound in the country to be developed into revenue-spinners instead of the continued dependence on oil.

“Our economy has been relying strictly on oil but we have other resources that we can harness to boost our manufacturing sector. I believe that we should be able to articulate strategies that will be used to utilize our bountiful raw materials and boost our manufacturing sector,” he insisted. Dr Jane Itseuwa, another participant at the conference, lamented that many foreign investors left the country at the peak of the global economic meltdown, He, however, expressed optimism that many of such investors would come back as the economy recovered.

Itseuwa was hopeful that the transformation agenda of the present regime and its tough approach to corruption would ginger investors’ renewed interest in the country.

“There were lots of foreign investors before the economic meltdown; there were many foreign investors in the capital market and economy. Most foreign investors had to sell off because of the crises in other parts of the world.

“The world is a global village and anything that happens anywhere can trigger similar actions in other parts of the world.”

She noted that the country’s economy was already picking up as indicative of the capital market’s steady growth, adding that some kind of confidence was being restored through various measures.

Itseuwa, nonetheless, worried about the security situation in the country, emphasising that it was inimical to building foreign investors’ confidence.

She urged the Federal Government to do all within its powers to ensure security in all parts of the country as a precursor to foreign investors’ interest in the nation’s economic development.

The conference communiqué emphatically urged government to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), through appropriate policies that would facilitate proper business linkages between trans-national corporations (TNCs) and SMEs. It enjoined government, through the instrumentality of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to fast-track the establishment of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development Fund.

It also called for the strengthening of the Bank of Industry (BoI) and Bank of Agriculture (BoA), to re-position them to perform their primary roles and objectives without undue interference.

The participants also highlighted the limitations to investment at the grassroots, calling on state and local governments, as well as political leaders to facilitate investment, while encouraging the citizens to eschew preference for foreign goods.

“State governments should establish specialised Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) with one-stop investment facilities to stimulate direct investments.

“Political leadership should encourage and enforce the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria goods, while local entrepreneurs should produce internationally-acceptable standard products,’’ the communiqué stated.

The stakeholders commended the National Automotive Council for the launch of its website, which provided for data gathering and information dissemination to potential investors.

“NAC should engage IT experts that will assist it in making the website more user-friendly,” it further stated.

The communiqué lauded the NIPC for drafting the “Sector Specific Policy Incentive Document”, while encouraging all stakeholders to rally round to ensure its speedy approval and implementation.

In the opinion of many analysts, Nigeria can attain its investment target if the Federal Government implements the right policies to stimulate public- private partnership in the building and re-engineering of public infrastructure.

They insist that policy implementation gaps at all levels of government formed part of the investment risks in the economy which required proactive synergies to address.

No doubt, efficient power supply is also a crucial factor in efforts to boost investment climate in the country. Measures so far taken by the Federal Government to inaugurate independent power plants across the country offer a glimmer of hope that sooner than later, their combined effects will boost power supply in the country to the relief of all Nigerians

Also, current security challenges in the country are a cause for concern as no meaningful investment can take place in an insecure environment.

Patriotic Nigerians earnestly desire that all aggrieved groups should channel all their grievances through legitimate channels and save the entire nation’s current state of insecurity.

Okoronkwo writes for News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Chijioke Okoronkwo