$30bn investment commitment already in Nigeria

By Haruna Salami

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite has disclosed that $30 billion commitment on investment has been secured by the present administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The Minister stated this during the second edition of Ministerial Press Briefing organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation at the National Press Centre, Abuja on Friday.

She said President Bola Tinubu’s foreign trips in search of investments, which she was part of, have yielded results with $30 billion commitment to investment already secured.

She said the first place President Tinubu went on investment drive was India, which pledged $14 billion investment in Nigeria.

On the reported story of Shell leaving Nigeria, Dr. Uzoka-Anite said the MD of Shell was in her office and explained to her the investment plans of Shell, adding that the company is selling its offshore assets and investing more in gas.

Therefore, instead of Shell leaving Nigeria, it is actually staying, expanding and refocusing its operations in the country.

She said there are other investments coming from other interested parties, “none of which would have come in if the President did not take the bold step to take away the double subsidies” on fuel and foreign exchange.

According to her, with increase in investment comes more jobs, including jobs in the oil and gas sectors.

The Minister also talked about the creation of job centres, both virtual and practical that have already been done, adding that the centre will serve as a facility for training, just as the ministry will empower the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to issue certificates and licences to upscale the skills of beneficiaries.

The ministry has also signed an MOU with the German government and City and Guild in fulfilment of President Bola Tinubu’s promise to give young Nigerians the needed skills thereby removing all impediments to getting international jobs.

On industrialisation drive, the minister said “we must be competitive so that we don’t become a dumping ground as was the case in the past when our exports are dumped into the sea because we did not pass through the right channels.

“We are putting our industries in clusters” adding that “with these initiatives, the economy is set to explode”.

She said they are currently automating export permit application process. “Working with an inter ministerial and inter agency platform, where everybody who exports will give us returns on what they exported and give us their bank account details that we can verify in the Central Bank to ensure that they are not manipulating figures. That process is being automated to ensure transparency and audit.

Dr. Uzoka-Anite used the ministerial briefing to clarify the agreement signed with the United Kingdom for enhanced trade and investment partnership that UK lawyers will come to Nigeria to practice.

“To be honest there is nothing like that in the agreement. That portion of agreement under legal services is still being negotiated and the Ministry of Justice is leading the negotiation on it.

“We just talked of how we cooperate in legal services. Yes, it is one of the texts that we have not concluded on. It is still under negotiation. I just want to clarify that we did not in any way sign agreement that lawyers in Nigeria will practice in the UK or lawyers in UK will practice in Nigeria.

“The issue of practice has to go through the statute of a country. We haven’t gotten there yet. We are still at the initial stage of even the areas to negotiate. I hope that this puts to rest the issues we have been seeing on social media. There is nothing like. For further information, you can seek clearance from the Ministry of Justice

“Let me use the opportunity to explain a little bit of the process of negotiation. When a country initiates the readiness to go into partnership with another country, in the case of Nigeria we have an inter ministerial enlarged national focal point. So, we brought together all ministries, organised private sector, civil society organisations to come together in a stakeholders meeting and take up the areas that concerns, for example, health. The Ministry of Health will send representatives from the main Ministry or any of their agencies that that topic or protocol speaks to.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris, who hosted the Ministerial Press Briefing said the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment was the second edition of the programme, which affords the various ministries the opportunity to tell Nigerians what they are doing to better their lots.

The maiden edition featured the Ministry of Agriculture led by the Minister, Abubakar Kyari.

Idris who urged the media to give Nigerians the benefits of having accurate information about their government, said if the media are in doubt about any issues, they should feel free to seek clarification from the MDAs concern.

He promised that the ministerial press briefing will be a regular event.