Buhari’s govt invested $10bn in infrastructure, says Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has invested about $10 billion in infrastructure development in the last three years.

Osinbajo, who spoke on Tuesday at the opening session of the Direct Investors Summit Nigeria, organised by Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) in Abuja, said the investment was majorly on roads, power and a new national rail network.

“We have in the last three years invested close to $10 billion, an unprecedented sum in infrastructure since 2016.

“Our focus is on roads, power and a new national rail network; all of which will help guarantee increased access to markets and reduced operating costs for businesses,’’ he said.

Osinbajo said the investment in infrastructure was one of the Federal Government’s initiatives to boost investment in Nigeria, adding that the government has recorded some achievements in improving the ease of doing business through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

The Vice President, who seized the opportunity to highlight some of the administration’s achievements, noted that the focus on agriculture had attracted billions of dollars in investments in the last three years in rice mills, sugar plantations, fertiliser blending plants, among others.

“Nigeria’s foreign reserves are now almost $50 billion, up from $30 billion when we assumed office.

“Our Sovereign Wealth Fund has in the last two years seen its first new inflows since it was established in 2011.

“We have grown our taxpayer base by five million new taxpayers; from 14 million in 2016 to 19 million today, as part of efforts to diversify Nigeria’s revenue base,’’ Osinbajo said.

“The most exciting of our current initiatives is the Focus Labs.

“The Focus lab is a process which involves our identifying investment projects that are being held back by bureaucratic bottlenecks and other challenges.

“It also focuses on bringing the project owners and investors together with the relevant senior government officials and regulatory authorities to resolve the challenges.

“The first phase of the Focus Labs identified $22.5 billion worth of investment projects.

“About $10 billion worth of these projects, with a potential for 500,000 jobs by 2020, have been classified as Most Ready,” the Vice President said.

Read Also: My govt grew Nigeria’s foreign reserve from $29.6bn to $47.5bn in 3 years— Buhari

He stated that Nigeria remains one of investors’ preferred destinations for investment as the country was endowed with one of the most youthful populations in the world with 50 percent under the age of 20 and 75 percent under 35.

“It is easy to see why any global company serious about its future just has to have a plan for Nigeria, as many opportunities still abound.

“Last December, a cereal factory opened in Lagos to manufacture Kellogg’s, the result of a partnership between the 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.

“There are also many successful partnerships between the public and private sectors.

“The best example is Nigeria LNG, a Nigerian run company that liquifies Nigeria’s natural gas for export all over the world and helped Nigeria earn her place as the fourth largest LNG exporter in the world.

“The company is majority private-sector owned by three multinational oil companies, while Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation holds a minority stake,” Osinbajo said.

He said the government prioritised creating an enabling business environment.

In his part, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Trade and Investment, called for partnership among the investors, adding that Nigeria was serious with supporting investors.

He said in 2017, the Federal Government tracked $66 billion worth of investment announcements and in the first quarter of 2018, $17 billion worth of similar announcements have also been tracked. He urged investors to turn the announcements to investments.

Yewande Sadiku, Executive Secretary of NIPC, said the summit was organised to bring together domestic and foreign direct investors face-to-face with policy makers and private sector players.

She added that it was aimed to facilitate increased direct investments into the Nigerian economy and also link new investors with existing ones in Nigeria.

Sadiku said the summit had in attendance about 190 direct investors from 40 countries and domestic investors from about 14 states of the federation.

 

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