How Come Global Investment Capital Is Not Coming to Nigeria?

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings Limited, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, has said that global investment capital isn’t flowing into Nigeria like other developing countries because of uncertain investment climate.

He also said investment “capital goes where it is welcomed” but most Nigerian government’s policies were a disincentive to global investment capital coming into the country.

Mr. Elumelu stated this when he delivered the keynote address yesterday in Abuja at the ongoing Insurance Industry Consultative Committee (IICC) 2017 National Insurance Conference. The conference is tagged ‘Nigeria Ready for Business’.

He said, “for Nigeria to successfully position itself to promote domestic business and attract investments, the public sector must improve its process of doing business.

Rwanda is a striking example of what is possible, when government and the private sector are united and a model of how economic and social wealth can be created, he said.

He said government bureaucracy is a cause for concern and if not tackled, would discourage otherwise willing investors from within and outside the country.

“The private sector can only thrive with the support and enabling environment created by government and its agencies. We need the public sector to be willing partners in establishing the right, investment-worthy business environment that we need in Nigeria. This is the only way Nigeria can be truly open for business,” he noted

Elumelu however commended the Federal Government on some of its recent reforms that may have a cascading, positive effect on the economy. He advised the President to ensure all his lieutenants buy in.

He also called on the executive, legislature and the judiciary to work together on improving doing business climate in Nigeria.

“However, the most critical factor for these institutions of government to function effectively and ensure the country is open for business is that they work together with a shared purpose, consensus and deep alignment to accomplish the Three Es – employment, empowerment and economic opportunity – for our people,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Alhaji Mohammed Kari, Commissioner for Insurance and CEO, National Insurance Commission noted that “if the dream to make Nigeria easy for business is to be realized, then the way financial regulation is constituted in Nigeria needs an urgent review.”

“Operators in most sectors are regulated by up to three and sometimes four financial regulators, with multiple requirements to each and in most cases similar and with ‘either/or’ options, which defeat the regulatory norm of specific oversight in financial regulations,” he said.