President Goodluck Jonathan will, on September 23, in the United States (U.S.) meet with key investors in agriculture, power and infrastructure during an event at the New York Stock Exchange.
Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S., Prof. Ade Adefuye, stated this in a statement.
He also said a team of Nigerian ministers, led by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would be in Washington on September 20 to further underscore the positive changes the government had made.
Adefuye said that investors would be provided with information on the steps that the government had been taking to attract foreign investments in the areas of agriculture, power and infrastructure.
According to him, the country has performed better than many countries since the global economic crisis of 2009.
He noted that the country still enjoyed a 6.1 per cent GDP growth rate in spite of a drop in the price of oil, its major export.
“Nigeria maintains single-digit inflation at around 8.6 per cent and is expanding both trade and investment in other sectors outside of the oil industry, particularly in agriculture and infrastructure.
“Both Nigeria’s banking sector and stock exchange have helped bolster confidence in Nigeria among global financial circles.
“Nigeria has come a long way since 2011 in encouraging, developing and implementing better policies in the sectors in which the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) notes that we need to do more,’’ Adefuye said.
He added that the percentage improvements in trade volume, in direct investment and in agriculture and infrastructure development might be considered small in the global economy.
He, however, said the contrast with where Nigeria was five years ago showed vision and committed effort by the government.
The envoy said that stated policy of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration was to focus more on those areas.
According to him, the Nigerian government has held several major infrastructure, agriculture, technology and investment forums in the U.S., Europe and Asia since Jonathan was elected in 2011.
“The response from foreign investors has been very positive. Recent statements by the President highlighted these new approaches in a Bloomberg article.
“Our government is treating agriculture like business, with the goal of adding 20 million metric tonnes of food to Nigeria’s food supply by 2015.
“It is creating 3.5 million jobs, as well as installing 100 large scale integrated rice mills across the country.
“Current estimates are that Nigeria needs approximately $500 billion for critical infrastructure development.
“In response to this need, the Nigerian government created the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Fund, under the Sovereign Investment Act, encompassing three strategic funds for development of which one is the Nigerian Infrastructural Fund.
“This infrastructure fund benefits from resources of the Sovereign Wealth Fund. The objective is to bridge Nigeria’s infrastructure gap over the next 10 years,’’ Adefuye said.
He stated that the GCI’s ranking of economies, showing Nigeria dropping from 115 on last year’s list to 120 on the 2013-2014 indexes, did not reflect the entire picture.
“It fails to take fully into account the many changes taking place on the ground, particularly in key states, whose GDP is, in some cases, equal to or more than other countries in the region,’’ he said.
Adefuye noted that Lagos State’s current GDP of $32 billion, for example, rivaled those of many sub-Saharan African economies.
“The state is on track to become, on its own, the 13th largest economy on the continent by 2014.
“The article does note that Nigeria enjoys the advantage of a large population, adding to its potential size as a market, which the GCI report said has potential for significant economies of scale and is an important factor for attracting investors.
“The government of Nigeria recognises that its size can be an important asset,’’ the Nigerian envoy said.
He, however, revealed that the GCI report failed to point out that in the short term that same large population added to the turnaround time required to see the impact of the positive changes noted above.
On technology, the envoy said, already investments in technology were making progress such as in education through e-learning.
He stated that Nigerian-owned ICT companies were also developing technology software specifically for the Nigerian market, particularly in mobile communications.
He added that mobile money applications were extending the advantages of financial services to underserved populations.
In the privatisation of the power sector, Adefuye noted that this was another example of an area where investment would take time to extend its full benefits to the citizenry and the country’s economy.
