…We’ll deliver on mandate – NIPC CEO
By Henry Uche
The agricultural, energy and waste management packaging sectors of Nigeria have secured foreign investment pledges from 20 German and European companies to bolster economic growth and development.
This was disclosed during a dialogue of a private sector delegation of companies from Germany/Europe held on Monday in Abuja and hosted by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
The leader of the delegation & Deputy Head of the United Nations Investment and Technology Promotion Office, Micheal Schmidt, addressing newsmen said the delegation who were on an exploratory mission to explore potential investment opportunities in Nigeria, were ready to assist various sectors of Nigerian economy, however, the main direction is to support the upgrading of the food processing sector, improvement of the energy sector and waste management packaging.
“The meeting was to enhance bilateral ties with Nigeria, and implement agreements during an earlier visit by the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to the country.
“There are also indirect support to achieve industrialisation by supporting local companies, improve their efficiency, access to international market and standards. The Nigerian market is not saturated, the challenge is to fulfill the needs of the local supply and there is a lot of development that we have seen with free and industrial zones.” he added.
In response, the Executive Secretary/CEO of NIPC, Aisha Rimi, assured that she was ready to leverage her extensive experience in law, business, and investment to position the NIPC as the leading facilitator of sustainable and impactful investments in Nigeria.
NIPC Executive Secretary affirmed that she was committed to working tirelessly with her team to deliver on set goals and contribute to the realization of a thriving and resilient Nigerian economy.
“My vision for NIPC is to attract high-quality investments that align with national development goals, create an enabling environment conducive to business growth and ensure investors feel supported and empowered every step of the way” she averred.
Remi who asserted that the government is very keen to diversify the economy, told the delegation that Nigeria is open for investment given its vibrant and hardworking youth population.
“The government has decided to look inward in mining, agriculture, infrastructure development, and construction and others sectors. The opportunities are enormous. We have stable democracy and liberal investment laws, although we have some challenges, however, that is where NIPC comes in.
“We have capacity to bring all the agencies together to address investors’ challenges and equally retain existing partners” she avowed.
On his part, the Director of Economic, Trade & Investment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinremi, reiterated that the Federal Government was poised to accelerate Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows from different countries, particularly Europe to bolster economic wealth and strengthen international partnerships.
According to him, three of the five top export destinations of Nigerian products in the fourth quarter of 2022 were from European countries including Spain, Netherlands, India, France and Indonesia, accounting for 9.70%. 9.03%, 7.71%, 7.70% and 7.44%, respectively, of total exports.
“It might interest you to know that I was an Ambassador in Germany for about 6 years; I can speak authoritatively on the robust relationship between Nigeria and Germany. We wish to take this relationship to a higher pedestal through an increase in FDI.
Akinremi who represented the Minister said the commodity with the largest export value in the year was petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals crude with about N4,911.92bn representing 77.24%, followed by Natural gas with N704.88bn accounting for 11.08% of total exports.
He said trading between Nigeria and Germany is also encouraging being the latter’s second largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The country’s total trade volume to Nigeria in the year 2022 was €3bn while Nigeria exports to Germany in the corresponding year was $806 33 Million,”
He added that the government has institutionalized some policies aimed at fast-tracking FDI into Nigeria in line with the President’s recent meeting with some Heads of Government in Europe to ensure that the objectives are met.
“Your investments in Nigeria are safe because there is enough market in the country coupled with abundant minerals and human resources” he assured.