President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigeria remains the best destination for American investors to put their money.
The president said this in Washington DC while speaking at the US-Nigeria Business and Investment Forum Roundtable organised by the American Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit.
He said aside the country’s population advantage, various incentives and policies implemented by the Nigerian government made it a destination of choice for investment.
President Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said, “It is, therefore, imperative that I reiterate at the outset, the comparative advantages that exist within Nigeria’s economy. First as the most populous country and largest economy in Africa, there is no doubt that Nigeria remains Africa’s largest single consumer market, projected to account for over 15 per cent of overall growth in Africa’s spending by 2025.
“Secondly, investors in the country would have access to new markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) which would be the world’s largest free trade area and would be expected to connect 1.3 billion people across 55 countries and a consumer market that will be worth over $3trn by 2030 and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at $3.4trn.”
The president informed his audience that despite the global challenges occasioned by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, the Nigerian economy had continued to record impressive growth in many sectors.
Buhari, who further informed the gathering of the sustained efforts of his administration to reverse the pervasive state of insecurity he inherited, especially in the North East, commended the government of the US for the support it had rendered in this aspect.
He also told the gathering of the plans of his administration to ensure that the problem of energy supply was addressed in the immediate future.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, told the audience that Nigeria was politically stable and ready for more investments and that the trend would continue because President Buhari had put in place electoral reforms that were enduring, giving room for free, fair and transparent elections.
In her remarks, Ms Florie Liser, President of CCA, said the organisation had been around since 1993 promoting US and African business and investment relationships.
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