President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in New York, has assured potential<\/p>\n
investors that Nigeria would soon be one of the most attractive places to
\ninvest as his administration has embarked on significant economic reforms.<\/p>\n
The President gave this assurance to a large gathering of political and
\nbusiness leaders from the U.S., Africa and other regions of the world at
\nthe Second U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York.<\/p>\n
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the forum was organised by the
\nU.S. Department of Commerce and Bloomberg Philanthropies.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian leader said that the Presidential Enabling Business
\nEnvironment Council headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, will soon come
\nout with wide-ranging business environment reforms on ports, visa-on
\narrival, improving the speed and efficiency of land titling,business
\nregistration among others.<\/p>\n
Other fiscal incentives he noted, include, up to five years tax holiday
\nfor activities classified as \u201cpioneer;\u201d tax-free operations; no
\nrestrictions on expatriate quotas in Free Trade Zones; and a low VAT
\nregime of five per cent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe intend to make Nigeria one of the most attractive places to do
\nbusiness,\u201d he declared, even as he noted that Nigeria remains the number
\none investment destination in Africa.<\/p>\n
Buhari added that his administration will continue to strengthen
\ngovernment institutions in order to address the concerns of investors and
\nease investments in the Nigerian economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are weaning ourselves from a historical dependence on crude oil,
\ndiversifying our economy, and putting it on the path of sustainable and
\ninclusive growth. To this end, we have embarked on policies aimed at
\nestablishing an open, rules-based and market-oriented economy. We will
\ncontinue to actively engage with the private sector at the highest levels
\nto listen to your concerns and to assure you of our commitment to creating
\nenabling policies in which your businesses can survive and thrive,\u201d Buhari
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He urged participants to \u201ctake advantage of this Forum to establish and
\nstrengthen business relationships, share valuable experience and
\ncollaborate for mutual benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buhari, while stressing that enormous potential exists for foreign
\ninvestment and for the local economy, he listed sectors which have barely
\nbeen exploited to include Nigeria\u2019s 1\u201970-million population and abundance
\nof labour; arable land; forest waters; oil and gas; solid minerals;
\nlivestock and huge tourist potential. According to him, \u201cThese are no
\ndoubt challenging times for the Nigerian economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut let me use this opportunity to boldly affirm our conviction that
\nthere is no crisis without an accompanying opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our case, we see Nigeria\u2019s ongoing economic challenges \u2013 occasioned
\nmainly by the fall in oil prices \u2013 as an opportunity to set the economy
\nfirmly on the path of true diversification, sustainable economic growth
\nand shared prosperity,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
The President said that the reform measures taken by his administration
\nsince inception in 2015, have started yielding fruits especially in the
\nareas of security, anti-corruption and revamping the economy.<\/p>\n
He said the priority investment sectors for his administration now are
\nimproving infrastructure, industrial productivity, agriculture, mining and
\ndigital economy where young Nigerians are increasingly demonstrating that
\nthey have the talent and the passion to leverage.<\/p>\n
On U.S.-Nigeria business relations, he announced the commencement of the
\nU.S.-Nigeria Commercial and Investment Dialogue with a focus on
\ninfrastructure, agriculture, digital economy, investment and regulatory
\nreform to be jointly led by the Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and
\nInvestment and his US counterpart.<\/p>\n
The President said that with this Business Forum, he looked forward to
\nincreased trade and investment flows between Nigeria and the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n