President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in New York, has assured potential
investors that Nigeria would soon be one of the most attractive places to
invest as his administration has embarked on significant economic reforms.
The President gave this assurance to a large gathering of political and
business leaders from the U.S., Africa and other regions of the world at
the Second U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the forum was organised by the
U.S. Department of Commerce and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Nigerian leader said that the Presidential Enabling Business
Environment Council headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, will soon come
out with wide-ranging business environment reforms on ports, visa-on
arrival, improving the speed and efficiency of land titling,business
registration among others.
Other fiscal incentives he noted, include, up to five years tax holiday
for activities classified as “pioneer;” tax-free operations; no
restrictions on expatriate quotas in Free Trade Zones; and a low VAT
regime of five per cent.
“We intend to make Nigeria one of the most attractive places to do
business,” he declared, even as he noted that Nigeria remains the number
one investment destination in Africa.
Buhari added that his administration will continue to strengthen
government institutions in order to address the concerns of investors and
ease investments in the Nigerian economy.
“We are weaning ourselves from a historical dependence on crude oil,
diversifying our economy, and putting it on the path of sustainable and
inclusive growth. To this end, we have embarked on policies aimed at
establishing an open, rules-based and market-oriented economy. We will
continue to actively engage with the private sector at the highest levels
to listen to your concerns and to assure you of our commitment to creating
enabling policies in which your businesses can survive and thrive,” Buhari
said.
He urged participants to “take advantage of this Forum to establish and
strengthen business relationships, share valuable experience and
collaborate for mutual benefits.”
Buhari, while stressing that enormous potential exists for foreign
investment and for the local economy, he listed sectors which have barely
been exploited to include Nigeria’s 1’70-million population and abundance
of labour; arable land; forest waters; oil and gas; solid minerals;
livestock and huge tourist potential. According to him, “These are no
doubt challenging times for the Nigerian economy.
“But let me use this opportunity to boldly affirm our conviction that
there is no crisis without an accompanying opportunity.
“In our case, we see Nigeria’s ongoing economic challenges – occasioned
mainly by the fall in oil prices – as an opportunity to set the economy
firmly on the path of true diversification, sustainable economic growth
and shared prosperity,” he noted.
The President said that the reform measures taken by his administration
since inception in 2015, have started yielding fruits especially in the
areas of security, anti-corruption and revamping the economy.
He said the priority investment sectors for his administration now are
improving infrastructure, industrial productivity, agriculture, mining and
digital economy where young Nigerians are increasingly demonstrating that
they have the talent and the passion to leverage.
On U.S.-Nigeria business relations, he announced the commencement of the
U.S.-Nigeria Commercial and Investment Dialogue with a focus on
infrastructure, agriculture, digital economy, investment and regulatory
reform to be jointly led by the Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment and his US counterpart.
The President said that with this Business Forum, he looked forward to
increased trade and investment flows between Nigeria and the U.S.