Chairman of BFI Group (Nigeria) Limited Lagos, Dr Reuben Mietamuno Jaja says the dearth of infrastructure is responsible for Nigeria’s stunted economic growth and underdevelopment.
Speaking with journalists at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa recently, Jaja noted that the economic situation in the country has affected his company’s profitability.
Jaja, whose firm is a core investor of Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) said: “I realised that it was significant to explore means of bridging this gap to a comfortable extent to ensure businesses run smoothly, remain profitable and contribute to the economy within which they operate”.
According to him, “it is pertinent to note that the current state of infrastructure represents an opportunity for a Pan African bank to provide project or infrastructure finance”.
The industrialist said that the nation was not exempted from the challenges which the governments had to reduce especially in terms of policy inconsistency.
“Nigeria had encountered frequent changes in policies, which often occur as the government and regulators try to grapple with economic challenges. Resource commitments by banks to comply with new regulatory policies are not optimised due to frequent reversal of these policies. This makes doing business in Nigeria to be unduly costly”, he said.
Dr Jaja maintained that Nigeria’s market remained highly fragmented as tariffs, permits and licenses as well as other regulatory barriers increase transaction costs and limit the movement of goods and services.
On poor funding of development projects by companies, Jaja urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to promote the development of cross border trade platforms in order to encourage the informal sectors to join the banking system.

By: Bethel Toby.