Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele on Monday told Canadian investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s huge return on investment and deepen their investment targets beyond the $984 million trade value between both countries.
Osinbajo specifically told Canadian investors to set their eyes on Nigeria’s mining, power, agriculture, education and information technology sectors, citing numerous opportunities that exist in those areas.
Speaking at the Nigeria-Canada Investment Summit 2019 in Abuja, Osinbajo informed the investors that Nigeria’s Energising Education Programme alongside the Energising Market Programme expose huge opportunities for investors as investment in such sectors through provision of mini-grid solutions to support off-grid electricity is already paying off.
“Businesses are prepared for regular power supply and there are opportunities. Markets, institutions and even Nigerians who are not connected to the grid show tremendous opportunities in the Rural Electrification Project of the government which has over 100 million unconnected people to cater for,” Osinbajo said.
In his remarks, Emefiele told Canadian investors that Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest economy and as a top choice investment destination in the West African sub-region widens the opportunities for investors seeking to invest in the continent.
He said Nigeria controls 47 percent of the West African population, in addition to controlling 65 percent of the sub-region’s Gross Domestic Product which makes it a natural investment gateway for investors.
The CBN governor noted that Nigeria has over 34 minerals which are richly seeking investors’ attention.
Emefiele noted that the agricultural sector contributes more than 20 percent to the Gross Domestic Product which offers huge investment opportunities for would-be investors from Canada.
“Over 39 million hectares of uncultivated arable land is waiting for investors in processing aspect of the agricultural value chain,” he said.
Speaking further, Emefiele said the apex bank has continued on the path of macro-economic stability and that tightening of monetary policy has impacted greatly on the economy.
He said the introduction of I&E foreign exchange window has yielded over $55bn to the economy and assisted in stability in the foreign exchange market.
“This measure has impacted greatly on the foreign exchange market between 2017 and 2019,” he said.
Zubairu Dada, minister of state for foreign affairs, and Adeyinka Aseku, the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, said the Federal Government would continue to explore opportunities of bilateral trade and investment ties between Nigeria and Canada.
HARRISON EDEH, Abuja
