$100 BILLION Investment In Nigeria

The investment drive of the Federal Government has received a boost as a team of foreign investors has indicated their intention to invest $100bn (N15.8tn) in key sectors of the Nigeria economy.

This was disclosed by Chief Tony Hicks of Anita Energy Limited, when he led a 10-man delegation on a visit to the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Moghalu.

A statement from the CBN on Tuesday stated that Hicks informed the CBN deputy governor that the purpose of the team’s visit was to bring massive investment that would add value to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

The key areas where the fund would be invested, he said, were oil and gas infrastructure, power generation, fast speed train, telecommunications and the establishment of a merchant bank.

He added that the investment would be done in partnership with APEC Logic Investment Limited, an Australian funding investment partner, and SINOPEC, one of the largest oil and gas corporations in China.

The statement further stated that Moghalu informed the delegation that foreign investment in Nigeria could only be meaningful if it addressed skills and infrastructural development.

He explained that the CBN had undertaken reforms of the banking sector to make it strong, resilient and able to serve the needs of the real economy.

This, he noted, was a total departure from the past where some individuals enriched themselves to the detriment of the economy.

Moghalu informed the team of investors that there was a confluence between the banking reforms and the desire of the investors to establish merchant banks expected to facilitate concrete investment in Nigeria.

This, he observed, would strengthen the relationship between the financial sector and real economy, adding that the CBN, as economic adviser to the government, had advocated structural reform of the economy.

He promised the delegation that the bank would provide the needed support to ensure that the planned investment bore fruits and process the banking licence application, provided the necessary requirements were met.

Moghalu reiterated that one of the four pillars of the banking reform was enhancing the quality of banks and financial stability through the creation of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, which absorbed the toxic assets of Deposit Money Banks.

He observed that the banks now had a clean balance sheet and were able to lend to the economy again

Punch Newspapers