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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Some economic experts have argued that Nigeria’s environment was unfriendly for foreign investment, sequel to the wave of insecurity, staggered policies and dilapidated infrastructure.
They spoke at a 2-day media and development conference organised by the Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID) in Abuja, yesterday.
The event brought together seasoned economic, health and media experts, like the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Kashere, Gombe State, Professor Umar Pate; Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Chidinma Oreh; Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Affairs, (Office of the Vice President), Tope Fasua, among others.
The African Programme Director of the Centre for International Private Enterprise, Lola Adekanye, said some potential investors were uncomfortable with the polices of government.
“A combination of issues is affecting the nation’s ability to attract needed investment. But the primary one is the environment for investment and growth.
“You will always hear that investors like stability. There needs to be trust in the business sector and what that translates to is that, if I put my money in any business, I want to be sure that my return on investment is guaranteed.
“I want to be sure I don’t want to put 20,000 Naira into a business and I’ll earn 15,000 Naira from it.
“So the environment for investment in Nigeria is not attractive enough. Because investors now worry about different kinds of risks and political risk is one.
“Like the investment in the Abuja -Kaduna rail, and then there was the insecurity attack. I am not sure what insurance we have to recover the loss that we experienced or still incurring from that rail project not working optimally right now.
“So investors, before they invest, look at the track record of other investments that have been in the country before and when they see that the return on investment is not as guaranteed.
“It is reducing and there are too many unstable indicators. They are not attracted to invest. So basically, it is still a very risky market.”
In addition, Adekanye encouraged government to ensure stability in the economy through effective fiscal policies, and boosting opportunities for private sector growth.
She, also, decried the misuse of borrowed funds, spent on recurrent expenditure rather than capital expenditure.
Spending funds on capital expenditure, according to her, could turned into economic value over time.
“Government is borrowing to service recurring expenditure, government is borrowing to give out palliatives that do not demonstrate enough trust that the return on investment will be guaranteed.
“And so these are things that the government has to work on,” she said.
Also, the Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch, Umar Yakubu, noted that Nigeria currently has an infrastructure deficit which can be met through investments.
Yakubu added that Nigeria was behind in terms of due diligence when it comes to the use of borrowed funds.
“Our level of due diligence is very low. We sign contracts without properly understanding what we’re supposed to do.
“Even if we do understand them, we do not sometimes sign them for national interest and national security purposes.
“That is why you see that will fall into a lot of problems where the monies have been collected, and when it comes to paying you will not see the value for money.
“Secondly, we have to also strengthen our internal systems when you borrow money, you know that future generations are going to pay so you have to ensure that the money is properly utilised.
“Meanwhile, the lenders do not care if they have already borrowed the money or however you pay. Lastly, or most importantly, there needs to be more transparency.
“Like I said earlier Nigeria is indebted $250 billion. If you asked for the components of those loans, you’ll see how we borrow them.
“But were the citizens engaged, were the media invited, were people invited to see and probably scrutinise how we use the money we borrowed, you find out they were not there. So these are the three things.
“I think we just need to add due diligence, transparency and accountability to go with what is being borrowed for effectiveness,” he said.
On his part, the CNID Director of Programmes, Akintunde Babatunde, said bilateral relationships with foreign countries had not yielded the expected investments in the country.
Babatunde noted that the conference was aimed at spotlighting some of the issues impeding development in the country, while also providing solutions to address them.
He said: “At CJID, we have over the years invested in helping to build the capacity of journalists in health, health reporting, climate change reporting, conflicts reporting, anti-corruption and every other sector.
“In situations where bilateral relationships, agreements with other countries, and investors do not translate to what they should, then there is a problem.
“The moment when the media does not know details about what contract the government is getting into, how much loan are we getting, if you know, the terms of the loan, then we have to be conscious.
“So the media should be at the heart of understanding what argument is my government going into? What are the terms who are the beneficiaries and how do we spot red flags?”
