United States Ambassador to Nigeria Stuart Symington and his UK
\ncounterpart Ambassador Paul Arkwright have paid separate visits to the
\nChairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, during which the parties held
\ndiscussions on the Nigerian economy and the role of businesses in the
\ncountry in exploring partnerships with international businesses to create
\nmore job opportunities for Nigerian youths.<\/p>\n
At the breakfast meeting with Otedola at his Ikoyi, Lagos residence, the
\nU.S. ambassador commended the Nigerian energy magnate for his continuing
\ninvestments in the country and for being a role model for other indigenous
\nentrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
The American envoy drew Otedolas attention to Nigerias growing
\npopulation, noting that the private sector has a critical role to play in
\ncreating opportunities for youths to be gainfully employed and in nation
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n
This, Symington added, would help to address poverty in the country and
\nrising insecurity due to the high rate of unemployment.
\nHe encouraged Otedola to explore partnerships with U.S. companies
\ninterested in investing in solar power projects and exports.<\/p>\n
Responding, Otedola, who in addition to being the majority shareholder in
\nForte Oil, is also an investor in the Geregu power plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi
\nState and is expanding into solar power, thanked the U.S. ambassador for
\nthe visit and expressed his commitment to working with international
\nbusinesses to expand his footprint in the country.<\/p>\n
Nigerians are very entrepreneurial and would latch on to any opportunity
\nto start and grow a business. The problem, however, has been access to
\ncheap and long-term capital which remains an impediment.<\/p>\n
That is where we would like the U.S. to come in by encouraging private
\nequity firms, venture capitalists and using U.S. export guarantees, among
\nothers, to support Nigerian businesses to become competitive and make good
\nreturns on their investments, he said.<\/p>\n
He reminded Symington that despite the political and economic risks in the
\ncountry, Nigeria remains one of the few countries in the world where the
\nreturns on investment are still high due to the infrastructure and
\ntechnological gaps, making foreign investment a worthwhile venture.<\/p>\n
Also, Otedola hosted the British ambassador Arkwright to dinner at his
\nresidence recently, where talks centred on improving business ties between
\nlocal businesses and British firms.<\/p>\n
Like his U.S. counterpart, Arkwright congratulated Otedola for his
\ninvestment drive in the country, saying businesses such as Forte Oil had
\nbecome beacons for others to follow.<\/p>\n
He assured Otedola that given the strong historic ties between Britain and
\nNigeria, the country remained an investment magnet for UK companies
\nseeking to do business on the African continent.<\/p>\n
He charged Otedola to collaborate with other Nigerian entrepreneurs and
\nbusinesses to encourage the federal government on creating a conducive
\nenvironment for foreign and local businesses to thrive.<\/p>\n
Otedola, in his response, assured the British envoy that the Nigeria
\ngovernment has a policy in place and a council co-led by the private
\nsector on the ease of doing business.<\/p>\n
As you know, Nigeria recently improved its ranking on the World Banks
\nease of doing business index by moving up 24 places. But the federal
\ngovernment is not resting on its oars because it wants to improve on the
\ncurrent ranking.<\/p>\n
We in the private sector continue to meet with government ministries and
\nagencies and collaborate with them in areas where more improvement is
\nneeded so that we can attract more foreign direct investment into the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
And I am sure that with the support of the UK government and businesses
\nin some of these areas, we will continue to see improvements in all
\nsectors of the economy, Otedola said.<\/p>\n
He thanked Arkwright for the visit and expressed his commitment to working
\nwith British businesses on exploring new ventures in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
-ThisDay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United States Ambassador to Nigeria Stuart Symington and his UK counterpart Ambassador Paul Arkwright have paid separate visits to the Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, during which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n