The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have announced strengthened collaborations with State Investment Promotion Agencies (SIPAs) to streamline the business and regulatory environment to enhance Nigeria’s economic growth.
Aisha Rimi, the executive secretary, NIPC, speaking during a stakeholders’ engagement held at the NIPC, on Monday, highlighted the importance of fostering a cohesive relationship between federal and state entities to attract both foreign and local investments.
She said that the commission’s role in the collaborative effort was the Nigerian Investment Certification Programme for States (NICPS), designed to enhance the efficiency of state investment promotion systems.
Rimi added that a key aspect of this programme was the establishment of one-stop investment centres in the states where all investment-related inquiries, applications, and registrations can be handled under one roof. She said the initiative aims to provide high-quality business information to potential investors, addressing a critical gap identified by the World Bank.
“Empirical evidence has shown that improving the business and regulatory environment of Nigeria is key to economic growth, over the years the business regulatory reforms agenda has taken an inclusive approach for the federal and state governments in the design and implementation of reform initiatives.
“The World Bank in its investment promotion benchmark found that nearly three-quarters of countries were missing out on much of the one trillion timely market of the foreign direct investment simply by failing to provide timely high-quality business information to potential investors,”
She, therefore, emphasised the need for states to work in harmony, and strengthen the relationship between NIPC and the state investment promotion agencies to ensure seamless coordination and alignment of FX and attract investment across the country.
The executive secretary also said that the collaboration will strengthen and build the technical and institutional capacity of states to enable them achieve their objectives. “We want to be able to disseminate information about investment opportunities across the states leveraging local knowledge to attract investment; we want to address bottlenecks and challenges that hinder investment. activities.
“And to find solutions to enhance the investment climate, we want to foster strong relationships with stakeholders including MDAs. We want to continue to synergise with some agencies and stakeholders to drive investment across the states,” she said
On his part, Micheal Magaji, director of infrastructure and public-private partnership department at the BPE, underscored the importance of state-level participation in national development and mentioned ongoing support provided to states which includes developing and refining public-private partnership frameworks, and building capacity within state investment agencies, and creating reliable state asset registers, among others.
