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Nigeria needs to attract FDI for development – Fashola

By BusinessNews Staff on July 30, 2014

Nigeria and other countries in Africa must attract Foreign Direct Investment to bridge infrastructural gap and enhance economic development, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said.

Fashola, who noted that the continent needed $93bn annually to bridge its infrastructural gap, lamented that Africa could barely provide 50 per cent of the amount.

As a result, he called for an enduring working relationship between governments and financial institutions in order to develop economic index that would attract significant FDI.

Fashola spoke at the 2014 edition of the annual Lagos Bankers’ Nite organised by the Lagos State Branch of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, further noted that governments needed “creative financial solutions” to provide needed infrastructure.

He said, “According to World Economic Forum annual report called the Global Competitiveness Index, African countries rank very low among the world’s 140 countries that are ranked every year. The first country in Africa to make it to that list is South Africa. In its 2014 report, Nigeria is at 120 out of 140 countries in terms of our competitiveness. In 2013, we were ranked 117.”

The governor also highlighted key issues holding Nigeria back in terms of improving investment drive and ease of doing business.

This included lack of skilled labour force; inability to raise long-term capital to finance infrastructure projects; corruption; poor infrastructural development; and policy instability and bureaucracy.

He stressed that the country must be safer as development only thrives in the atmosphere of peace and security.

The President and Chairman of Council, CIBN, Mrs. Debola Osibogun, observed that quality products and services could only be delivered by a competent and skilled labour force.

She said the primary purpose of the event was to further encourage the labour force to adopt international best practices.

According to the Director, Centre for Research in Leadership and Ethics, Lagos Business School, Dr. Franca Ovadje, who was the guest speaker at the event, the quality of human resources has an impact on an employee’s productivity, turnover as well as the financial performance of organisations.

Hence, for value to be created, the right people with requisite skills must be in place, she observed.

The Chairman, CIBN, Lagos State Branch, Mr. Abolade Agbola, maintained that the transition of the nation’s economy from frontier to an emerging was premised on fixing the infrastructural gap “within a reasonable timeframe and maintaining the requisite political stability for development.”

[Punch]

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