Businesses Project Positive Growth in Nigeria

• Businesses Project Positive Growth in Nigeria

Foreign-based businessmen operating in the country have projected a positive socioeconomic growth for the country.

The group, under the aegis of Austrian-German-Swiss business outlook (AGSBO) had the third edition of its interface and discussion session at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce centre in Lagos at the weekend.

Speaking during the event, Head, Delegation of Germany Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, DGIC Dr Marc Lucassen said a 2018 survey which was done in Nigeria showed that respondents are optimistic about the economic climate of Nigeria and many expect a strong growth in their businesses and headcount in 2018.

He also explained that the three major factors affecting investment activities in Nigeria are the supply of forex, transport infrastructure and overall security as he noted that finding skilled workforce especially in the field of engineering is a challenge. “Most companies result to the recruitment and training of staff in house,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Ms. Alexander Herr who represented Germany explained that the countries “Meet in this format to present the results of a survey conducted with Austrian, Swiss and German companies here in Nigeria. The AGSBO took place for the first time in 2016. The idea behind that format was that it would make sense to bundle the experience of the Swiss, Austrian and German companies present in Nigeria, since they are essentially confronted with the same type of problems and might on the other hand also have similar success stories to share. The higher the number of companies taking part in the survey, the more representative and therefore conclusive it gets. And that is the idea behind this shared survey. We think that this format is very useful and hope to continue with it.”

On his part, Mr. Yves Nicolet, Consul General of Switzerland said it is very important to know what the problems that can be faced in Nigeria are, and also what kind of successes can be obtained. “It is important to know how the Swiss companies perceive the future of the economy in Nigeria.”

Representing Austria, Ms Nella Hengstler, Commercial Counselor of the Austrian Embassy since last year things are getting better than the previous years and their exports expanded to EUR 79million in 2017, a plus of 17% compared to the year before.

“I see increased potential for economic exchange between our two countries especially in the fields of high quality, specialised machinery for the manufacturing industry; renewable energy solutions and environmental consulting; construction machinery and materials; supplies and general infrastructure improvement, e.g. in the field of transport (railways, cable cars, engineering and planning) but we are also watching the innovation and tech space especially in Lagos with great interest and are excited about the technical solutions and startups that have sprung up in Nigeria in the last few years,” she said.