U.S. companies are deterred from investing more in Nigeria by its capital
\ncontrols, according to the head of a congressional delegation visiting
\nAfrica\u2019s largest economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the currency controls that remain I think raise the question of
\nwhether foreign direct investment, if successful and profitable, will be
\nable to be returned to any country,\u201d\u00a0Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said
\nWednesday in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria\u2019s commercial capital. \u201cI have
\nheard concerns from American companies that before they significantly
\nincrease their investment here they would hope they return to a floating
\ncurrency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigeria, the continent\u2019s biggest oil producer, tightened currency
\nrestrictions after the 2014 crash in crude prices, a move analysts blamed
\nfor creating a severe shortage of foreign exchange that made it difficult
\nfor companies to pay for imports and repatriate profits. While the
\nscarcity has eased this year, the central bank still tightly manages the
\nnaira.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is Nigeria\u2019s third-biggest trading partner after India and China,
\nwith volumes between the two reaching $6.8 billion in 2016, according to
\ndata compiled by Bloomberg. That was down from $12 billion in 2014. The
\nstock of U.S. foreign direct investment in Nigeria was $5.5 billion in
\n2015, according to the State Department. Most of that was in oil and gas.
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s government has taken other steps to make
\nNigeria more attractive to investors, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Buhari administration has made significant progress in addressing
\nsome of the structural challenges, both security and economic challenges,
\nthat were a barrier to more active American investment,\u201d he said.
\nBusiness Leaders<\/p>\n
Coons, a Democrat, visited Nigeria with seven other senators. In Lagos,
\nthey met business leaders including Aliko Dangote, Africa\u2019s richest man,
\nand Tony Elumelu, chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc and investment
\ncompany Heirs Holdings Ltd.<\/p>\n
They traveled earlier in the week to the capital, Abuja, where they met
\nVice President Yemi Osinbajo, and to Maiduguri, the epicenter of an
\neight-year insurgency by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram that has
\ndevastated the north-eastern state of Borno. There, they spoke with U.S.
\nmilitary advisers and Nigerian commanders, who asked for more armored
\nvehicles known as MRAPs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese were reasonable, achievable partnerships requests that I thought
\nwere doable,\u201d Coons said. \u201cIt was important for us to get an assessment on
\nthe ground. It was a voluminous list of the structural damage done over
\nyears of fighting Boko Haram.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. companies are deterred from investing more in Nigeria by its capital controls, according to the head of a congressional delegation visiting Africa\u2019s largest economy. \u201cSome of the currency controls…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n