PROMOTING THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY AS A PREFERRED INVESTMENT DESTINATION

PROMOTING THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY AS A PREFERRED INVESTMENT DESTINATION

The last edition of the Lagos international trade fair held from the 9^th to 16^th of November, 2014 was tagged “Promoting the Nigerian economy as a preferred investment destination.” The historic event may have come and gone but I would like to discuss the theme meticulously. Sometimes in April last year, The Statistician General, Mr. Yemi Kale explained that the Nigeria's GDP was recently rebased from about USD 270 billion to USD 510 billion for 2013. The increase of about 90% was attributed to new sectors of the economy such as telecommunications, movies, and retail which were previously not captured or were underreported. As a result of the rebasing, Nigeria is now the largest country in Africa and 26^th largest in the world in terms of GDP figures. However, Nigeria needs more than GDP rebasing to stimulate the economy and drive Foreign Direct Investments.

Perhaps, the questions I want everyone reading this well articulated piece to answer are; how has those jaw dropping figures impact positive in the life of the average Nigerian? Does that make Nigeria a preferred investment destination? As the self acclaimed giant of Africa, are we getting enough FDIs? All things being equal, would a prospective investor prefer our sickle cell infected country to the likes of South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia or even our western African neighbour, Ghana?

Apparently, a survey by Transparency International ranks Nigeria among the worst country to do business in the world. Nigeria was ranked 99 out of 100 countries that were accessed by the international body; the sad fact is that some war stricken countries were even better placed. If the truth is to be told, the country has myriad of problems and it is less likely to be the first choice of any prospective investor.

From all indications, things are presently out of place and I would be discussing some of the challenges that have served as stumbling blocks to the wheels of progress that our founding fathers might have envisaged in subsequent paragraphs. They are discussed below;

·        Bribery and Corruption- The former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba, described corruption in the Nigerian context “as any anti-social behaviour (including stealing) that confers improper benefits contrary to the legal and moral norms that undermine the capacity of those in authority to secure the welfare of all citizens.” Another definition of corruption worthy of note is given be a foremost Anthropologist, Daniel Jordan Smith. He explained that “the Nigerian notion of corruption encompasses everything from government bribery and graft, rigged elections, fraudulent business deals to cheating in schools among others.” Regrettably, bribery and corruption has penetrated every sphere of our national life and Nigeria is ranked as the most corrupt nation in the world. We need to fight corruption because we are now synonymous with it which is highly embarrassing.

·        Second on my list is Electrical Power Generation, the provision of electrical power for the benefit of the teeming population in Nigeria still remains a mirage. Subsequent administrations have failed the citizens in this regard. Broken and unkempt promises seems to be in vogue while billions of dollars are either squandered, embezzled, misappropriated or unaccounted for in our gory journey to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive on government provided electricity. The shout of “up nepa” is now a national anthem, it fills the air whenever power is restored and you will be forced to wonder if we are really in the 21^st century. According to the National Population Commission, it was expected that Nigeria's population would have hit 170 million by the end of 2013. Of these, less than 50% currently have access to electricity.

·        Security is one of our biggest international disgraces; the precarious situation of our security has made headlines of local as well as international media houses in the most embarrassing and dehumanizing manner. A country that cannot guarantee the security of lives and properties of its citizens and residents should not be referred to as a sovereign state let alone a nation.

Most regrettably, every region in this country seems to be synonymous with a certain security challenge, while the northern part of the country is overwhelmed with Boko Haram insurgency, sectional\religious clashes and socio-cultural crisis amongst other nameless acts of lawlessness. The southern part is always in the news for the wrong reasons with kidnappings, Niger-Delta militancy, armed robbery, mass murder amongst others happening here and there. The security of lives and properties of the citizenry should be the number one priority of any responsible government because not investor not matter how patriotic, would want to put his hard-earned wealth in a country where he cannot promise tomorrow.

·        Multiple Taxation, this is really not much publicized but it is certainly one of the hindrances.  Most businesses have witnessed untoward intervention and actions from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of Governments (at the 3 tiers) who see an opportunity to generate revenue through the imposition of multiple, illegitimate levies and taxes. The failure of these businesses to submit to these illegitimate regime and demands often results in disruptive enforcement actions by these MDAs.  Business executives and staffs continue to witness harassment, forcibly sealing of business premises or litigation to compel compliance. These continued intervention by MDAs results in a disruption of services, degradation of service quality, a major increase in operating expenses and the general cost of carrying on business in Nigeria.

·        The dearth of Available Manpower is also sacrosanct to the promotion of the Nigerian economy has a preferred investment destination because most of our youths in the employment bracket do not have the wherewithal and antics needed to swim the stormy waters of life and most importantly, they lack the required skills and qualities to make a mark in employment. The sad truth is most of our graduates are not employable. But, instead of trading false blames on the government at all levels for neglect, or lamenting the comatose in the education system, or the parents or guardians who encourage their wards to cheat in examination halls, or the students who do whatever to pass exams (except studying extensively) which is our usual culture, I would suggest that we are go back to the drawing board, think, reflect and investigate where we have all wronged the system and ensure that we make it right.

·        Bureaucratic Bottlenecks, another issue that needs to be urgently addressed. The cost of doing business in Nigeria is high to the heavens but another problem is the stress a would-be investor is made to face because he chose Nigeria has his investment destination. 

  

Conclusively, am optimistic that a Nigerian economy that would be the number one choice of any intending investor is realizable if sincere efforts are put in place to ensure that all the aforementioned challenges are severely dealt with individually. On the flip side, we should all ensure that we promote our country to foreigners and tourists in the most warmth way possible and the truth is that it is not really as bad as it seems.

God Bless Nigeria

Olusanya, Oluwole Sheriff