*Vows To Channel Diaspora $25 Billion Yearly Investment To Productive Economy
Reeling out achievements of the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment on Tuesday, the Minister, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, said investment commitments of over $30 Billion, have so far been secured across multiple sectors of the economy in the last one year.
She spoke during the Day-4 of the Ministerial Sectoral Updates at the National Press Centre, Abuja, marking the 1st Anniversary of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
She also disclosed that about $25 Billion yearly Diaspora investment in flow will be channeled to the productive economy.
She said "Nigeria's investment landscape is now witnessing a significant influx of foreign capital, aligning with the Renewed Hope agenda. Led by the commitment of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we have secured Investment commitments of over $30Billion, so far across multiple sectors of the economy.
"In addition, the ministry is taking decisive and structured steps to attract capital investments which will transform our homegrown enterprises and industries into global players. We have concluded stakeholder engagements with our domestic private equity and asset management firms towards the launch of an Investment Mobilization Initiative aimed at increasing local and foreign investment as a catalyst for economic growth."
Noting that there is an abundance of debt capital for MSMEs to access as loans, she said there is however paucity of equity capital which is the real investment capital that will unlock ideas into unicorns.
According to her, President Tinubu has laid the foundation to boost the growth of industries, while the Ministry is building on the foundation to increase private equity capital formation, hence the reason for initiating the Nigeria diaspora fund.
She said "The Nigeria diaspora remit between $20-25B annually according to the world bank, but these remittances have not been channeled intentionally to private equity. Therefore, the investment initiative by my ministry is creating the platform to target, mobilize and utilize some of these funds into the productive economy.
"Our Private Equity and Asset Management firms have shown strong support for this investment initiative with a huge response to the Request for Expression of Interest we published. Our Private Equity and Asset Management firms are adept at attracting investments and the support from the Ministry is an assurance that Government is backing this investment drive and will provide the enabling environment, remove the roadblocks and red tapes to ensure that these investments thrive.
"We are not limiting the investment drive to only Nigerian Diasporans, we are reaching out to all fund providers. We have also received strong support from development finance partners and have no doubt that with the success of this initiative, Nigeria will witness a boom in the formation of businesses, a strong financial and capital market and the creation of a strong economic and industrial base to catalyze a $1trillion dollar GDP economy." she stated.
The Ministry, she said, is now set to host the Nigeria Investment Summit which is a platform to connect domestic and global investors to Nigeria.
"We are creating and de-risking the investment opportunities in Nigeria, and will showcase these as we launch our digital dealroom which will present the investment opportunities and help facilitate the investments to happen." the Minister said
To increase the ease of doing business and boost investor confidence, she said the Ministry is contributing to improving the rule of law for businesses and corporations.
"It is indeed sad to note that most contracts issued in Nigeria have other jurisdictions as places for arbitration, mostly England. We have observed that this is so because most businesses experience delays in the arbitration and legal process for enforcing contracts.
"To remove this red tape, we have started engaging with the office of the Attorney General to design automated commercial courts that will specialize in adjudicating on commercial disputes and fast tracking dispute resolution. This will boost investor confidence and increase investment flows." she said
Following President Tinubu's approval of N200 Billion Presidential Palliative Programme to support businesses by providing grants to nano businesses and loans to MSMEs and Manufacturers at single- digit interest rates, she said the Ministry in partnership with the Bank of Industry (B.O.I.) has successfully commenced phased disbursement of the grants in line with the Palliative Programme.
Noting that the ecosystem within Industrial clusters increases potential economies of scale for the industries thereby increasing competitiveness in regional and global markets, she said the Ministry has commenced the initial process of mapping out major industrial clusters across the country to provide targeted intervention, thereby enhancing their vibrancy and competitiveness.
"A lot of our industrial clusters are still not connected to efficient and affordable power supply. We are flagging off our “Light Up” campaigns starting with the Agbara Industrial zone which is not connected to the power grid.
"We are connecting it to the power grid. We will connect the Danwanu market in Kano to captive gas power. We are connecting the Nnewi Industrial Cluster to gas. There is gas in the South East and South South, yet many of the clusters in the region are not connected to efficient gas supply.
"We will continue to focus on supporting industries until all industrial hubs have electricity and gas to manufacture cheaper and more competitively.
"Many industries generate their own power with their diesel generating sets, but when these industries are connected to a captive power, their distributed cost lowers the cost of production by 2/3rd.
"This strategic move signifies our resolve to harness clusters as engines of economic growth and development, fostering innovation, job creation, and inclusive prosperity across Nigeria in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda."
The Minister added "The President launched the Presidential CNG Initiative, and for the Ministry, we are taking this move one step up. We will flag off the conversion and manufacturing of CNG trucks and trailers to carry goods for trade. Logistics and cost of transportation contributes significantly to cost of goods sold and consequently to inflation.
"CNG is 4 times cheaper than diesel for transportation. This initiative will drop the cost of carrying goods and see our cost of production drop significantly.
"Let me emphasize here again that just powering industries from distributed power or captive power alone will reduce cost of production by 60%, then reducing cost of transportation by converting trucks and trailers to CNG instead of diesel will drop that cost again by 60%, the combined effect of this alone will shift our industries from loss making ventures into huge profit ventures, thereby having a multiplier effect.
"This will not only reduce the cost of products we buy, but will reduce food inflation significantly and make us compete favorably in our exports. A lot of our industries have closed down with many more on the verge of closing as a result of high cost of production chiefly energy and transportation, so now you can understand how the President through this initiative will revamp industries and tackle a major bottleneck."
The Minister said the Ministry is developing a Resurgence Plan for Optimized Performance of the Nigerian Cotton, Textile and Apparel Industry in partnership with development partners and private sector players adding, "We have attracted $3.5B investment capital to unlock this sector."
She also disclosed that steps are being taken to unlock the potential opportunities inherent in the nation’s automotive sector.
"In collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) - the anchor institution for the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) and regulatory body for automotive industry in Nigeria, the strategy and goal of the Ministry is to return the Nigerian Automotive industry to supply 40% of its components locally comprising of glasses, tyres, batteries, brake pads, foam and seats, exhaust, electric cables etc.
"Towards this end, we have developed frameworks that emphasize the need for collaboration among manufacturers, dealers, regulatory bodies, and other players in the automobile ecosystem; because we believe that by working together, they can address challenges, streamline processes, and drive innovation.
"The automotive industry is set to sign off-take agreements amongst themselves and this is the beginning of history in Nigeria. With the MOUs and agreements, suppliers will be rest assured that car assemblers and manufacturers will buy their products.
"Assemblers will be guaranteed of their supply chain, quality and standards and consumers will be able to buy affordable brand new cars. This is how import substitution is done. We don’t have to use our FX to buy things we can produce. We don’t have to import if we can make it." the Minister stated
She also explained that so much is been done by the ministry and Agencies and parastatals under it to create jobs for Nigerians in the last one year.
The Minister admitted that there are some prevailing challenges facing the economic industrial growth in the country.
Just like happenings across the globe, she said "Locally, infrastructural deficits, bureaucratic bottlenecks, insecurity and regulatory complexities remain hurdles to overcome, and pose risks to our economic stability.
"Yet, we are undeterred in our resolve to address some of these challenges head-on, seeking innovative solutions and fostering local and global collaboration across sectors," she said
She reiterated the commitment of the Ministry to supporting businesses, promoting trade liberalization, and creating an enabling environment for attracting local and global investments - in furtherance of the Renewed Hope Agenda under the leadership and administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.