Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Telecommunications giant, Airtel, has said his company intends to increase its investment in Nigeria by $700 million following the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) rates by President Bola Tinubu.
The Chairman of Bharti Airtel Worldwide, Mr Sunil Mittal, said this when he had a meeting with President Tinubu on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that President Tinubu’s new foreign exchange policy would attract more foreign direct investments into the country.
Mr Mittal stated that with the floating of the Naira, one obstruction to foreign investments had been tackled in the country by the government.
Business Post reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently liberalised the exchange rate system in the country by giving traders at the investors and exporters (I&E) window the freedom to determine the exchange rate.
With the development, buyers and sellers of foreign currencies in the official FX market are now allowed to quote rates they find comfortable.
Multilateral lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, declared support for the move.
Mr Mittal said that the FX policy would give foreign and local investors more confidence that an enabling environment had been opened, adding that the economy had also moved into global reckoning.
“I came to Nigeria in 2010 when some others were leaving because of the confidence I have that Nigeria is an emerging market in the continent.
“With this new policy, Airtel’s investment will be increased from the annual $400 million to more than $700 million in the next two to three years,” he said.
On the issues discussed with the President, Mr Mittal said it centred on economic empowerment, job creation and poverty alleviation, adding that Nigeria shared some similarities with India in these regards.
“With technology, digitisation and connectivity, India was able to bring a large percentage of its citizens out of poverty. It created jobs for the youth in the digital space.
“Our investments in Nigeria are not only for profit making, but we thrive in giving back to the community through our corporate social responsibility. We invest in businesses, health and other sectors of the economy,” he said.
