N3.2tn investments attracted in three years – FG

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
| credits: File copy

The Federal Government said on Monday in Abuja that in the last three years, over N3.2tn ($20bn) Foreign Direct Investment had been attracted into the Nigerian economy.

The figure was made public at a world press conference on the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa, which would he hosted next year in Nigeria.

The summit to be held in Abuja will be the first of its kind by the WEF in West Africa.

The N3.2tn investments represent 10 per cent of the entire African continent’s FDI. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who gave this hint, said the forum with the theme, ‘Forging inclusive growth, creating jobs,’ would further help to stimulate investments in the economy.

She said the forum would offer an unprecedented opportunity for Nigeria to showcase its vast economic potential to the world and deepen dialogue on economic reforms between the international and Nigerian private sector.

The theme, she said, was chosen because it aligned with the medium and long-term aspirations and commitment of the Federal Government.

She said hosting the economic conference next year will not only ensure that Nigeria remained the largest recipient of FDI in Africa, but will also ensure that the investments it attracted were broad-based.

This, she added, would help to generate millions of jobs for the army of unemployed youths in the country.

The minister said, “The WEF is an organisation that has been in existence for more than 25 years.

“The objective is to bring top-class chief executive officers of big organisations in the world together with the government in order to forge a partnership that can lead to investments to the improvement of the private sector in given countries so that we can have improved job creation and an improvement in the standard of living.

“We are very honoured and it’s very clear the reason why Nigeria made the list of this conference and the reason is that they find it very fascinating all the developments that are happening in the Nigerian economy.”

She said international investors were interested in the transformation going on in various sectors of the Nigerian economy, adding that the reforms had created an avenue for more FDI.

“The power sector privatisation is one that hasn’t really been seen elsewhere and so, they are fascinated by the way it was openly and transparently done.

“They are also interested in what is happening in our agriculture and housing sectors, which would soon be launched and various other opportunities, such as the manufacturing sector, consumer goods industry and the creative industries,” she said.

Okonjo-Iweala said compared to other economies, the Nigerian economy had maintained a relative macro-economic stability.

“Inflation rate is coming down; we have strong reserves to underpin the economy, robust growth rate,” she stated.