The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) says Nigeria needs investments not loans to harness its resource potential and achieve economic growth and development.
Saratu Umar, the executive secretary/CEO of the NIPC, said this during an interactive stakeholder’s forum with ministries, departments & agencies (MDAs) in Abuja.
“Nigeria is a resource-rich country with potential that is unrivalled by any other country globally but it is yet to be fully utilised; we need investments to actually harness this potential, not loans,” she said.
Umar said the level of resource mobilisation in the country was grossly insufficient for inclusive growth and development, which is why foreign direct investment and local investment must be attracted.
She said investments were critical for supporting growth, creating jobs, and facilitating development in the economy, adding, however, over the past few years, the global FDI market has become competitive and versatile but the NIPC is positioned to get a fair share of the global market.
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“If we are to assert our dominant position as a player in the region, then we must enhance our investment drive and also build a conducive environment for investors to play in the economy so we don’t lose them to other countries in Africa,” she said.
She also said that investment promotion in the country was not as coordinated as desired, hence stakeholders must work together to ensure a greater synergy that will provide a more coordinated traction to avoid losing investments.
She said the NIPC was working on a strategy and promotion masterplan that will drive seamless collaboration and coordination of investment ecosystem to usher in robust stakeholder communication and result in effective partnership.
“The NIPC is mandated to coordinate and promote investments in Nigeria which cannot be done without the input of stakeholders like the MDAs, We will still engage investors, banks, the diplomatic community, legal firms, etc” she said.
Speaking in the Nigerian Investment Promotion Masterplan (NIPM), she said it will help facilitate foreign and local direct investment that fit into Nigeria’s development and investment needs, in an inclusive, coordinated, tangible, measurable and effective manner.
The promotion masterplan, she said, runs through different sectors and extracts the investment requirements for each of them, and when fully optimised, discussions can begin on the target for 2023.
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