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Make Nigeria interesting to investors – Experts tell FG

By BusinessNews Staff on June 25, 2015

Following Monday’s revelation by the President Muhammadu Buhari that he inherited a country with virtually an empty treasury, stakeholders and experts have stressed the need for the Federal Government to improve the country’s investment profile to bridge the huge infrastructure deficit.

They said the new government should place a high premium on public-private partnerships to ramp up infrastructure development in the country.

The Chairman, Bi-Courtney Group Limited, Dr. Wale Babalakin, who spoke with our correspondent on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Akindelano Legal Practitioners in Lagos, stated that the government should streamline the cost of governance.

Babalakin said, “I think the time has come for us to do a comprehensive assessment of where we are. I think if we introduce greater discipline and block the leakages, we will begin to accrue resources. If the country streamlines the cost of governance, it will have a positive effect on the financial health of the country.

“Over and above this, you have to make the country interesting to investors and that can only be achieved through the rule of law. I want to assure you that if you create an enabling environment where rights are upheld, there will be more investors in Nigeria and those investors can help rebuild the nation.”

Speaking on the need for rule of law and sanctity of contracts, the Bi-Courtney chairman, said the government had wrongly terminated the concession granted the company for the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“We are going through the dispute resolution process because our position is that the concession is subsisting and should be enforced. We believe that the actions of government are unfair to Nigeria and Nigerians, and we expect the dispute resolution process will resolve the issues,” he added.

The Country Manager, International Finance Corporation, Ms. Eme Essien, listed capital as one of the needs of the country, adding, “But I think there is capital out there. There are lots of investors who are very interested in putting long-term capital to bear in Nigeria. But that’s not necessarily the problem.

“The question is: How do we create the enabling environment so that long-term capital feels comfortable for a long-term period of time. That is very key.”

She identified conflicting and changing policies, unclear frameworks and lack of enforcement of rules as “things that tend to retard investments” in the country.

“And so, my hope is that with the new government in office, they will identify what are these critical bottlenecks and start to address them one by one,” Essien added.

[Punch]

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