He gave the assurance at the 14th meeting of the
Honorary International Investors Council (HIIC) held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, yesterday.
The president said that with the declaration of state of emergency in three troubled northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on May 14, there had been significant improvements in national security. Jonathan said the emergency rule had witnessed unprecedented supports by the locals, which showed that they were also disenchanted with the level of insecurity.
The president said the development had confirmed government position that the insurgencies witnessed in the country had nothing to do with religion but activities of internationally backed terror groups determined to destabilise the nation.
He said the administration understood that security was key to attracting investments and development and would leave no stone unturned to guarantee safety of lives, property and investments.
He thanked members of the HIIC for their efforts at attracting business and investments into the country and encouraged them to do more. Jonathan also said the nation’s economy was growing but that he would like to see it improved to an appreciable level of double digit growth. The president informed the council that he presented a mid-term report of performance of his administration on May 29 to correct the “lots of misinformation” going on among the people.
He said the presentation had helped to correct the negative projection of the administration, particularly through the media. President Jonathan said government would encourage the growth of micro and medium scale business in addressing the high rate of unemployment in the country.
On the challenge of high statistics of school dropouts in the country, Jonathan said there was need for an interface between the federal and states government to end the menace.
He assured that the Federal Government would organise a forum of stakeholders from federal and states levels on the problem after resolving the political impasse within the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). The president said that oil theft in the country had reached an alarming stage and was affecting the economy, the image of the country and aiding insecurity.
He, however, assured that government would continue to work hard to address the problem. Earlier, HIIC Coordinator, Baroness Lynda Chalker, had said that government must take pro-active action to address the problem of oil theft, which she said was “diminishing income into the treasury.”
She also charged the government to double its drive on the development of infrastructure, roads, rails, power, which she said, “are key to solving other problems.”
Giving account of impacts of the activities of the HIIC on national development, Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said there was significant increase in foreign direct investment in the economy. Specifically, he said the petrochemical sub-sector attracted over $20 billion investments with over $8 billion contribution by the Dangote Group.
Aganga said investments in the petrochemical industry had encouraged value addition into the oil and gas sector and generated employment.
He said the country would soon launch its auto-programme with a plan by Nissan Automobile to launch an assembly plant in the country. The minister said that in the last six months, the telecommunications sector had attracted over $6.9 billion.
He said there had been influx of foreign investments from Brazil, Canada and The Netherlands, while Turkey had signed an agreement to build an industrial park in the country. He said some of the investors had, however, been asking for increased incentives to invest in the rural areas, while some complained of skill-gaps.
Aganga decried the situation where many Nigerians were unable to take advantage of the investment opportunities in the country because of lack of access to fund. He said government must design programmes for local investors to access long term finance to encourage re-distribution of wealth.
The HIIC, coordinated by Chalker, was inaugurated in 2004 as a presidential advisory council to attract global financial players into the Nigerian economy. The council is charged with the responsibilities of looking into Nigerian investment environment, advice on areas to improve on and attract businessmen across the world to take interest in investing in Nigeria.
Present at the meeting were Vice President Namadi Sambo, Ministers of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Aviation, Stella Oduah, Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke and Internal Affairs, Abba Moro.
Some foreign investors at the meeting were Hruki Hayashi, Simon Hayford, Olivier Suinat, Guillaume Roux, Jacques des Grottes, Andrew Brown and David Haworth. Nigerian businessmen at the meeting included, Aliko Dangote, Emmanuel Ijewere, Femi Otedola, Umar Murtallab and Sam Jonah.
Also in attendance were the Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido, Group Managing Director of NNPC and the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Investments Promotion Council, Mr. Mustafa Bello.
Culled from The Sun
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