A group of Japanese investors visiting Nigeria for talks say they have found huge investment opportunities in the country but are still concerned about the level of insecurity, legal environment as well as crucial infrastructure that should drive any investment plan.
“According to recent research by Japanese companies in Africa, they expressed positive thoughts on considerable size of Nigerian market and potential for Nigeria for its future economic growth.
“On the other hand there are concerns over security, legal environment and crucial infrastructure for economic activities and investments such as power and transport in Nigeria,” Shunsike Takei, Parliamentary Vice Minister of foreign Affairs of Japan said during the investors’ meeting with the Nigeria’s minister for finance, Kemi Adeosun.
Takei who led the delegation said the investors were also worried about the foreign exchange restrictions in the country and requested clarification.
But he was optimistic that Government effort to improve business environment through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) would boost economic relations between the two countries.
Takei said the mission is part of activities of the Japanese government to materialise the $30 billion worth investment by public and private sectors for future of Africa which was announced by the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe at the 6th Tokyo international conference for African Development which the President Buhari attended.
“One of the short term issues for now for private sector is the restriction of forex. I have heard that things have been improving since the beginning of this year.
“I understand the issue is not being completely solved yet. I will like to have our view on the future prospect of these issues,” he told the minister.
According to him, the delegation has 12 private companies from various sectors including trading houses, manufacturers, banks and insurance company. In addition, relevant institutions from the trade and development sectors are also part of the delegation.
“I am happy to be here as the leader of the public and private joint mission for promoting trade investment in Africa.
“The reason why we have chosen Nigeria to visit is because Japanese companies strongly want it,” he stated.
In her response, Adeosun tried to woo the investors, assuring them that the country was on its part to economic rebound giving the recent recovery plan put out by the government.
“Nigeria is an important trading partner for Japan. We are big market, very vibrant market. This government’s Economic Growth Recovery Plan is going to address some of the limitations to growth that have been plaguing Nigeria’s history. In particular, we are focusing on improving our infrastructure,” the minister said.
She told the investors that the government was spending more money on infrastructure than ever before and is determined to unleash the growth potential of this economy.
“The five strategic priorities of our ERGP are stabilizing the macro environment, which includes the foreign exchange, and has improved; we will continue to fine-tune it. We are focused on increasing food security by investing in agriculture, improving energy sufficiency by investing in power and petroleum, improving transportation and other infrastructure and diving industrialisation especially around our small and medium size businesses.
“And we are providing specific reforms that will help you to invest in Nigeria.”
She further assured the investors that the government was improving the ease of doing business, removing many of the bottleneck that the investors could experience while dealing with any tier of government.
“We are going to make it easier for you to come and invest in Nigeria.
“We are also providing fiscal incentives for you to come I to Nigeria, establish your businesses and drive growth within our economy,” she further assured.
Adeosun further said she was happy about at the range of businesses that came for talks from Japan, including banking which she said is a very big sector for the country, insurance as well as manufacturing.
“Indeed, there is virtually no business that will not thrive in Nigeria. We just welcome you and want to assure you that whatever you what to do, you can do it in Nigeria. We are going to be here to help you, support you, we will be assisting you to ensure that you achieve your objectives.
Adeosun told the investors that many companies have come from around the world into Nigeria and done very well and that there is no reason why the Japanese companies, cannot succeed
Udoma Udo Udoma, minister of Budget and National planning in his who the investors equally visited remark appreciated the support of the Japanese in the various sectors of the economy.
He explained that the Nigeria government is set to identify the constraints of doing business in Nigeria and tackle them to improve the business environment of the country to attract investors.
He said “we intend to improve global competiveness by identifying the business constraints and tackling them one by one, reduce the cost of doing business and cost of getting lands and loans for business in
Nigeria”.
He also said that there is creation of special economic zones in every geopolitical zone with Security, highly skilled workforce with a lower labour cost to ease business activities in the country.
Onyinye Nwachukwu & Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja
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