The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Investment, Mohammed Alsuwaidi, has vowed that their size of investment into the Nigerian economy over the next couple of years would run into tens of billions of dollars.
Speaking yesterday at the Investopia Africa conference held in Lagos, he expressed disappointment that despite both countries sharing close to 50 years of bilateral commercial trade relations, he said their level of investment has remained disappointingly marginal, promising that with Investopia coming to Lagos, this is about to change.
“I see opportunities across board in industries, infrastructure, entertainment, financial services and so on and we are ready to invest in multiple sectors over the next few years.
I will encourage you, if you are a logistics company in Nigeria and looking for growth capital in warehousing, cold chain, trucking solutions, reach out to us or through our private firms. When the private sector in UAE sees the government investing they will follow suit. Let us focus on the low hanging fruits, build bridges with the private sector and be transparent. This will encourage the private sector to also come in to invest,” he said.
“Investments around infrastructure whether in public transport, utilities, power, waste water recycling and so on, depends on legislations and opportunities and could run in the tens of billions of dollars.
I think in terms of connectivity and trade and facilitation whether it is through capital or infrastructure like warehousing or others. The technology is huge.
We think of smart metering, fibre optics, data centres, cloud solutions and mining.
The opportunities are huge and require a lot of infrastructure,” he said.
Federal minister, Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, expressed excitement at Investopia making its debut in Africa and particularly in Nigeria for the first time. She noted that the FMITI is hosting investors from the UAE, Africa and across the world.
On what this means for Nigeria, she said Nigeria cannot extrapolate its growth by clapping alone. “We need FDI and the UAE has this capital, the gulf in general has capital. They are looking for opportunities to maximise their capital and we have identified infrastructure, oil and gas, tourism, agriculture, agribusiness, AI, technology as emerging areas for their investors to immediately invest in.”
“Nigeria is leading the charge and as Alsuwaidi revealed, he has pointed out areas where Nigeria is ready to absorb the incoming capital including our solid minerals, critical rare earth, lithium, tin and so on. We’re going to be bringing in more key investors, pushing out our non-oil exports across the region through UAE as a hub.”
She noted that they are working hand in hand with different states including Lagos to make it a success.
On how to track the investments coming in, she said Nigerians should look at the investment promised and the capital that will eventually come in. “When an announcement comes in, whether it’s from Brazil or from the UAE, look at the announcement that was made, then look at the central bank and the Bureau of Statistics. You can track the number of jobs that will be created and the multiplier effect, it’s open for all to see,” she said.
CEO, Investopia, Dr Jean Fares, noted that over the last four years, Investopia has been very active as an investment platform with the aim to translate dialogue into partnerships and partnerships into investments.
He pointed out that with economic and investment instruments increasingly used to advance strategic and political objectives, capital is becoming more selective.
“Investors are increasingly looking beyond certain circles to markets that offer scale, diversification and can evolve and Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, is increasingly meeting this criteria,” he said.
Adding that Nigeria combines scale with their mission, serving as a gateway to West Africa and Africa as a whole, a retail trade corridor and a fast growing energy and consumer markets; he said hosting Investopia in Lagos, reflects this reality.
He said the signing of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between Nigeria and the UAE, provides a strong framework to accelerate trade, investment, and private sector collaboration.
Permanent secretary FMITI, Nura Abba Rimi, expressed optimism that the current framework will expand trade, provide easy market access, facilitate business mobility and strengthening investment options. “We are confident that the conversations and engagements that will take place today will contribute meaningful to the strengthening of our economies and bilateral relationship.”
Assuring the UAE officials on the safety of their investments, Oduwole promised that the Nigerian government has built legal frameworks and pathways to profitable safe investment to ensure the safety of their capital, vowing that they would work with the government and private sector to ensure its success.
