The Questions
1. What opportunities exist for investors in your country?
2. What are the challenges facing investors?
3. What advice would you offer investors?
4. What is government doing and what needs to be done to improve the investment climate?
5. How can the financial sector help in facilitating investment in your country?
1 Untapped business opportunities abound in Nigeria. In particular, the government is seeking to improve the country’s vibrancy in the global economy through its privatisation programme, unlocking rewarding opportunities in the transport, oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, shipping, aviation and telecommunications sectors.
2 The deterioration of physical infrastructure and poor technology are a major challenge. Security and corruption are also problems. Under civilian rule, however, these problems are being addressed.
3 Investors must be in Nigeria to identify opportunities – ideas exist where you may not have expected them. High population densities, for one thing, create tremendous opportunities that can yield benefits in a short space of time.
4 The Nigerian government has devoted a lot of time and energy to promoting private-sector participation in the economy and attracting foreign direct investment. However, the business environment needs to be strengthened by ensuring security; providing infrastructure and in particular energy; ensuring proper and appropriate implementation of business laws; bringing about macro-economic stabilisation; and minimising corruption by instilling a strong culture of good governance.
5 For an economy to grow, there must be capital available to the private sector. The financial sector has a role to play in facilitating the injection of foreign capital. But the government and the monetary authorities need to create the mechanisms to monitor the implementation of monetary policies and control inflation, in doing so allowing banks and other credit institutions to lower interest rates on their financial facilities.
