Focus Labs will attract $22.5bn investment, create 500,000 jobs by 2020 —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said the first phase of the Nigerian Economic Recovery Programmes Focus Labs conducted by the Federal Government was expected to attract $22.5 billion worth of investment into the country.

The President said the investment prospects would create more than 500,000 jobs by 2020, thereby reducing unemployment rate in the country.

President Buhari made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing the nation on this year’s celebration of Democracy day.

This projection, however, would raise concerns over whether the President was campaigning for re-election as his first tenure in office is expected to elapse by May 29, 2019.

According to him, the Focus Labs was conducted in three key sectors of the Economy which include: Agriculture and Transport, Manufacturing and Processing as well as Power and Gas.

“These have yeilded significant prospects for investments and job creation to the tune of $22.5 billion with a potential for creating more than 500,000 jobs by 2020,” he said.

Focus Labs are designed as workshop-style closed-door investment fora between private sector and senior government officials.

They also serve as a forum for detailed discussions and interactions to address some of the bottlenecks and inhibitions of additional business investments in the economy.

Buhari added that the investment generation initiative among others developed by his administration were expected to significantly increase capital inflows in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Meanwhile, FDI to Nigeria, which stood at $246.62 million, dropped by 34.83% in Q1 2018 from the preceeding quarter.

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had said that Nigeria’s FDI was still weak when compared to portfolio investment and other investments, representing only 3.9% of total capital imported.

But, the total capital importation, comprising of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and other investments, to Nigeria rose for the forth consecutive quarter in Q1 2018 since Q2 2017 to $6.3 billion.

President Buhari expressed optimism that the overall investment from the first phase of the Labs would hit $39.2 billion by 2025, which is about $40 billion more than the total investment recorded in Q1 2018.

According to NBS, the increase in capital importation in the quarter was driven mainly by portfolio investment, accounting for 72.42% of capital investments.

Portfolio investments are interestments in the form of a group (portfolio) of assets, including transactions in equity securities, such as stock or debt securities in the form of bonds, banknotes and debentures.

Also, foreign direct investments are investments in business enterprise in a country other than the investor’s country designed to acquire a controlling interest in the foreign business enterprise.

By Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan…

 

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