VP Osinbajo Talks About His Speech At The Direct Investors Summit Yesterday In Abuja

Yesterday, the National Investment Promotion Council commenced a two day engagement with stakeholders on Direct Investment in Nigeria. The aim is to to highlight and showcase Nigeria's investment opportunities.

Nigeria's opportunities are premised on a number of strategic factor endowments: our sprawling arable land, rich mineral investments, our gateway position, not just for West Africa but for all of the African continent. But the jewel in that crown is unmistakable: Our People. A population that is Africa's largest, and half of the entire West Africa. It is also one of the most youthful populations in the world, with 50 per cent under the age of 20 and 75 per cent under the age of 35; an incredibly energetic and entrepreneurial people. It is easy to see why any global company serious about its future just has to have a plan for Nigeria, as many opportunities abound.

Last December, a cereal factory opened in Lagos to manufacture Kellogg's cornflakes; the result of a partnership between an American company and Tolaram, a Singaporean conglomerate. Although the Kellogg Company is over a hundred years old, that factory was its first investment in Nigeria. Barely half a year later, they are already talking about expansion plans, as the new factory has already hit maximum capacity.

In e-commerce, financial services, retail, manufacturing, the stories of success also abound. MTN is one of the better known of the private sector examples; the story of its investment in Nigeria is frequently cited in investment circles. Today the company operates in more
than 20 countries, but earns more than half its revenues from Nigeria. It is now planning to list on The Nigerian Stock Exchange, where it will create billions of naira in new value for many Nigerians and investors from anywhere else in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, central to any conversation about investment in Nigeria is the nature of our business environment, the degree to which it is conducive to starting and running a business. One of our biggest priorities and commitments as a government has been the creation of an enabling business environment, one in which property rights and the rule of law are respected, and in which markets take the lead, while government efficiently fulfils its role as a protector and enabler.

Since 2016, we have launched a number of efforts in this regard. The most ambitious is the Ease of Doing Business Reforms, being implemented by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which I have the honour of chairing. PEBEC has implemented a series of National Action Plans, targeted interventions aimed at dismantling specific bottlenecks around business and property registration, access to finance, payment of taxes, importing and exporting goods, entry into and exit from Nigeria, and so on.

On account of these reforms, the World Bank recognized Nigeria as one of the top 10 most improved economies in the world in 2017, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cited our business climate reforms as a major contributor to lifting the economy out of recession last year

You can read a bit more of the speech VP Osinbajo shared at the Direct Investors' Summit

Here on his Medium Page