Govt Woos Tunisian Investors to Manufacturing, Other Sectors

• Govt Woos Tunisian Investors to Manufacturing, Other Sectors

The Federal Government on Monday called on investors from Tunisia to form strategic alliances with Nigerian investors to set up businesses in the country.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, made the call at the Nigerian-Tunisian Business Forum held in Abuja.

Present at the event were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama; the Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Khemaies Jhinaoul; the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Ms Yewande Sadiku; and representatives of about 230 companies from Tunisia and Nigeria.

Enelamah called on the investors to take advantage of the current reforms in the Nigerian economy to invest in key sectors such as power, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure, tourism, Information and Communications Technology, and banking.

He said that under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the Federal Government had identified priority areas which investors could take advantage of.

He gave the priority areas as oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture and transportation.

To underscore the importance of the government’s drive to grow the economy, the minister said President Muhammadu Buhari would on Tuesday launch the ERGP focus labs.

He stated that the focus labs were strategic in the implementation of the growth plan.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Edet Akpan, the minister said Nigeria was the best place for Tunisia to invest in.

“The focus of the Nigerian government is to diversify the economy to the non-oil sector and this has created an opportunity for Tunisia investors. We have the right policies and incentives to attract investors, and we encourage you to ensure the free flow of investment to Nigeria,” Enelamah added.

Onyeama stated that the foreign affairs ministry would continue its drive to inform the world about the business opportunities in Nigeria.

He said the era when countries conducted trade in a restrictive manner was over.

He said, “We want to increase our level of cooperation by increasing commercial relations. The era of hostilities in global trade is gone, and we hope that internationally, promotion of trade and reduction in barriers and tariffs will be the norm.

“We want to promote freer trade and avoid protectionism, and our meeting with Tunisia here is a good demonstration that we believe in free trade.”

In her presentation at the event, Sadiku said there were huge investment opportunities in agriculture, transportation, solid minerals and manufacturing sectors of the economy.