Chidiebele Obika | I-Witness News
Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo has called for more support for indigenous companies saying that, “nationals have higher risk appetite to invest in Nigeria” thank other nationals.
The event – Abuja Business and investment summit which was organized by the Abuja Investment Company Limited and held today at Shehu Musa Ya’ardua Centre, Abuja had ‘Optimising Investment Through Partnerships’ as the theme.
As the summit’s keynote speaker, Soludo described foreign companies leaving Nigeria as “opportunistic” firms that jump from one country to another whenever they have itchy feet.
“Dear friends, there is what we call the new mercantilism and pseudo-nationalism; it’s both a threat and an opportunity. In today’s world, in many countries, new nationalism is back. Economic nationalism is back, new mercantilism is back,”
“If you see the companies that have pulled out of Nigeria, how many of them happen to be national companies? None. The day they have itchy feet, they jump to the next one (country), they are very opportunistic. Extremely opportunistic, no emotions to it. So, for long-term sustainability, we must nurture the domestic capital and build them.”
According to him, “government must learn to de-risk certain strategic investment for the private sector as indigenous nationals have higher risk appetite to invest in Nigeria”.
“People are saying ‘America first’. We must be intentional. The agenda of ‘Nigeria first’ as a philosophy is something that we must mainstream. This will require us to intentionally nurture national champions for sustainability.
Professor Soludo suggested that the country shore up daily oil production to around three million barrels per day to boost forex and maintained that oil and gas sector remain a game-changer for the Nigerian economy.
” Both forex and price level will stabilise and the interest rate and monetary policy will loosen” for business owners to borrow at reasonable rates to have real return on investments. Lower interest rates would shore up domestic investment, even foreign investment.
The Minister of FCT, HE. Barrister Nyesom Wike, Heads of Foreign Missions, development partners, organised business sectors and others attended the event.
