Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, says indigenous Nigerian companies have higher risk appetite than foreign investors and multinationals.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) described foreign companies exiting the country as “opportunistic” firms that jump from one country to another “the day they have itchy feet”.
Soludo spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at the maiden edition of the Abuja Business and Investment Summit organised by the Abuja Investment Company Limited.
He said the “government must learn to derisk certain strategic investment for the private sector” as indigenous “nationals have higher risk appetite to invest in Nigeria”.
The ex-governor of the apex bank spoke on the theme of the event, ‘Optimising Investment Through Partnerships’. The event also has the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and other dignitaries in attendance.
“Dear friends, there is what we call the new mercantilism and pseudo-nationalism; it’s both a threat and an opportunity. In today’s world, in many countries, new nationalism is back. Economic nationalism is back, new mercantilism is back,” Soludo said.
“People are saying ‘America first’. We must be intentional, the agenda of ‘Nigeria first’ as a philosophy is something that we must mainstream. This will require us to intentionally nurture national champions for sustainability.
“If you see the companies that have pulled out of Nigeria, how many of them happen to be national companies? None. The day they have itchy feet, they jump to the next one (country), they are very opportunistic. extremely opportunistic, no emotions to it. So, for long-term sustainability, we must nurture the domestic capital and build them.”
‘Oil & Gas Remains Game-Changer’
The Anambra governor expressed hope that “both forex and price level will stabilise and the interest rate and monetary policy will loosen” for business owners to borrow at reasonable rates to have real return on investments.
Soludo said lower interest rates would shore up domestic investment, even foreign investment.
Continuing, the economist said the oil and gas sector would remain a game-changer for the Nigerian economy, encouraging the government of the day to shore up daily oil production to around three million barrels per day to boost forex.
“In the short to medium term, the oil and gas sector will remain the game changer for Nigeria. It is still going to be very critical,” he said, adding that addressing security challenges and fostering ease of doing business would help fast-track economic recovery.
As Nigeria battles its current economic crisis sparked by the Bola Tinubu government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows, some manufacturing companies have exited the country in the last year.
Some of them are Kimberly-Clark, makers of Huggies and Kotex brands of diapers; US-based Procter and Gamble (P&G); GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); Unilever Nigeria Plc; Sanofi-Aventis Nigeria; Bolt Food & Jumia Food Nigeria; amongst others/
Some similar reasons given by the companies include high energy costs and currency depreciation.
In his speech on the occasion of Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day Anniversary on October 1, 2024. President Tinubu said his “administration is committed to free enterprise, free entry, and free exit in investments while maintaining the sanctity and efficacy of our regulatory processes”.
