By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria has continued to be an attractive market to private capital and should partner with the private sector to ensure diversification and growth of its economy, Trade & Investment Minister, Okechukwu Enelamah said on Thursday.
“Government seeks to partner with private capital to diversify and grow the economy; but there are three core pillars to be put in place,” he said at the FBN Capital annual investor conference 2016 in Lagos.
Enelamah said there should be incentives and when there is abuse in incentive, it becomes a disincentive, according to him, Nigeria must have investment incentives, positive fundamentals and micro outlook and a favourable business climate to diversify and grow its economy by way of attracting private capital.
“You can’t have industries without power, foreign exchange is also important, having the right foreign exchange environment is essential to Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, for the country to diversify and grow its economy, it should implement the Nigeria industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), support the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and support the digitalisation of the Nigerian economy.
The Nigerian Trade & Investment Minister said four key areas have to be looked into for the diversification and growth of the Nigerian economy which include power, foreign exchange, agriculture and manufacturing.
The theme of this year’s event ‘An economy at a crossroads: thriving in the face of new realities’ explored through a combination of presentations and interactive sessions with some of the foremost reformers in government, business leaders and seniour executives in both the public and private sectors of the economy.
FBN Capital said through the conference, it aims to contribute meaningfully to the discourse on how to return the Nigerian economy to growth, temper inflation, boost job creation, and increase awareness on how the government is responding to on-going fiscal and monetary challenges.
