Press Releases

Nigeria Has Provided Conducive Atmosphere To Attract Foreign Investments - Goodluck

Jan 14, 2010 - The Vice President, Dr Jonathan Goodluck on Thursday in Lagos informed that the Federal Government of Nigeria has put in place favourable and conducive environment for attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in all parts of the Nigerian economy.

According to Dr Goodluck who spoke through the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) at the opening ceremony of the Namaskar Africa – An Indian Exhibition and India-West Africa Business Forum held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, the Federal Government has also put in place incentives like tax reliefs to attract investments from virtually all parts of the friendly nations in the world.

He said as part of efforts to ensure the realization of this, the Federal Government has tackled the issue of the Niger Delta decisively by granting amnesty to militants in the area and restoring normalcy to the area.

He added that the various areas of cooperation and investment deliberated upon at the forum situate perfectly into the seven point agenda of the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration, especially in the area of Agriculture and Infrastructure which are being pursued on all fronts.

Dr Goodluck also informed that the administration has also recorded successes in the two areas and others even though there is still room for improvement.

He urged the Indian businesses to take advantage of the restructuring efforts in key areas like telecommunication, energy, ICT, health pharmaceuticals, infrastructure to come up with various investment proposals for the benefit of the two nations and in particular West Africa.

The Vice President also enjoined technical team experts from both sides to explore areas of cooperation in the key sectors already identified in the three day extensive deliberation.

He expressed the hope that at the end of the deliberations, the forum will come up with sound proposals for the benefit of member states, while assuring that the Federal Government of Nigeria will implement the various outcomes of the programme with the objective of bringing rapid economic development to the sub region.

He described the presence of the high powered delegation from India as an affirmation that it intends to forge a closer economic tie with Nigeria and West Africa to ensure rapid economic transformation of the sub region.

The VeePee reminded that India and West Africa have agreed to explore possibility or collaboration in agro allied, pharmaceuticals, ICT, energy, natural resources, Infrastructural development with the aim of maximizing FDI into ECOWAS member state in critical sectors.

He was also of the opinion that it will also assist ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development and ECOBANK Transnational to widen their global reach by repositioning them for chain of resources mobilization from India and the allocation of investible resources to benefiting institutions and agencies in the 15 ECOWAS countries.

He stressed the need to forge partnership with a strategic country like India which has recorded extensive successes in the Small Manufacturing and Medium Enterprises, expressing delight at the successes recorded during the first summit held in India.

While responding to the assertion of the Indian Minister of Commerce that the balance of trade between both countries is in favour of Nigeria, Governor Fashola said in other sectors of human endeavours such as medicine, India presently stands at an advantage over Nigeria.

In his address, the Federal Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chief Achike Udenwa said the event marked the beginning of a new era in trade and investment relations between the ECOWAS member States and India.

He expressed the conviction that the increased trade and economic cooperation with other developing countries under the South-South cooperation and most especially emerging economies like India will improve the standard of living of the people.

Chief Udenwa said the opportunities availed through the forum from India would assist the West African sub region in its collective efforts to enhance production capacity and diversify their economic base through the injection of new ideas and technology as well as best global practices.

Speaking earlier, the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industries, Mr Anand Sharma said the time has come for Nigerian and ECOWAS and India to bring about what the two regions can offer and consolidate the economic partnership between Nigeria and India.

He said six of the largest growing economies in the world are in Africa with five of them in the West African sub region and urged local Indian industries to embrace investment opportunities available in Nigeria and West Africa.

He also invited local Nigerian businessmen to enter into collaborations with Indian businessmen in certain identified sectors, promising that such moves would be supported by the Indian Government.

In his address, The President of the ECOWAS Chambers, Dr Ibrahim IBN Chambas expressed the hope that the forum will kickstart strategic economic relations between West Africa and India as it offers investment opportunities in wide ranging areas.

He challenged the Indian Government to consider encouraging investment flow from West Africa by granting zero tariffs for exports to India by businessmen.

Dr Chambas promised that the sub regional body would provide effective follow up to the outcome of the conference.

A Memorandum of Understanding on the business forum was later signed by the representatives of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) which was represented by its President elect, Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal and President of the ECOWAS chambers, Dr Mohammed IBN Chambas.

The ceremony had in attendance, members of the Diplomatic Corps like Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mallam Bagudu Hirse, Nigerian Ambassador to Ghana, Ambassador Musiliu Obanikoro, the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria as well as the Nigerian High Commissioner to India and notable businessmen including Alhaji Aliko Dangote.