Nigeria has been identified as the 19th most attractive economy for investments flowing in Africa, the latest Africa Investment Index 2016 said on Friday.
The publication by Quantum Global, an independent research arm of Quantum Global Research Lab., noted the huge potentials of the economy, saying the country, which attracted a net foreign direct investment, FDI, of $3.1 billion in 2015, was also among the top countries in Africa with potentials to attract an overall FDI of $13.6billion.
The report, which ranked Botswana as the most attractive economy for investments flowing into the continent, also identified Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa as the other economies.
The head of Quantum Global Research Lab., Mthuli Ncube, pointed out that despite the current economic challenges the country was facing, confidence was high in the medium to long term market prospects of the economy.
He said Nigeria earmarked a significant amount of capital in the budget to develop critical infrastructure in the country, apart from various opportunities for public private collaboration providing investors’ return on their investments.
“We anticipate that investment in infrastructure will underpin the growth of the economy and meet the needs of a large Nigerian growth population,” Mr. Ncube said.
The decline in global oil prices, he said impacted various African oil producing nations, resulting in the federal government intensifying effort to diversify the local economy and lay out a roadmap to enhance public infrastructure.
These were part of efforts to support high growth sectors in the country such as manufacturing, ICT, agriculture, amongst others, to meet the local demand, along with boosting exports globally in the short to medium term to stabilise the macro-economy.
Nigeria is reputed to be the biggest economy in Africa with a gross domestic product, GDP of $ 415 billion projected to grow to about $595 billion by 2020.
“This presents a big market for goods and services. In this sector, GDP per capita currently at 2,260 is projected to leap to $2, 907 by 2020, which could boost consumption and domestic demand.
“The short to medium term focus of the Nigerian Government is to reduce imports and address primary sector blockages, such as roads, bridges, power, railway, aviation, water, housing, agriculture, education and health.
“Despite the current market volatility, Nigeria presents tremendous investment opportunities in these areas, which would not only support the local economy, but also deliver significant yields to foreign investors,” Mr. Ncube said.
He noted various reforms implemented in the country to boost and restructure the economy, including the introduction of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), the Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) to make Nigeria more attractive for investments, and the microcredit scheme in the 2016 budget.
These initiatives, Mr. Ncube said would see the Bank of Industry, oversee the disbursement of loans to 1.6 million traders, artists, farmers and young entrepreneurs over the next twelve months.
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