Economy
FG Woos American Investors to Meet $25b FDI Target
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In order to achieve $25 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by 2020, surpassing the Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) set target, Federal Government has assured American investors that they would get highest returns on investments if they come to Nigeria.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, and his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, gave this assurance this week at the Nigeria-US Business and Investment Forum held in New York on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.
The forum was attended by Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr Kayode Fayemi; Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms Yewande Sadiku; Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Anthony Orji; and representatives of the Nigerian private sector and US Business.
According to the Trade Minister, Federal Government is building the Nigeria of the future where things would be done differently from the way they were done in the past.
He said, “Nigeria of the future will be dramatically different from the past and that is what this government is trying to build.
“We are building infrastructure; we are providing the enabling environment and we are improving on the ease of doing business.
“There is a sense of urgency for Nigeria’s industrialisation and we are providing the enabling business and investment environment for investors.”
On his part, the Foreign Affairs Minister said Federal Government would not betray the confidence the US investors already reposed in Nigeria through the forum.
“What we are offering the investors is a much more stable environment, a lot of enabling business environment, one stop shop for registration of names, for getting passport, for coming into the country.
“We are offering them customs clearances, all the elements that go into making much more enabling. A welcoming business environment is what we are offering.
“And of course we are offering them a huge market of almost 193 million people; we are offering them a bigger market with ECOWAS that they can get access to through Nigeria.
“And we are offering them good governance. Those are things they also welcome. We are trying to offer them more security in the country because that’s a point that was also raised,” he said.
Onyeama said the high level representation of the government demonstrated the commitment of the Federal Government to making the partnership really work.
“We believe that Nigeria and Africa in general, you get probably the best returns on investment more than anywhere in the world.
“We are doing everything possible to rebrand our country so that you can know that you are dealing with a reliable partner.
“We want to turn all our embassies around the world including here in the U.S. as hubs for businesses and to provide you all the information you need on Nigeria to invest in Nigeria. And to meet with business partners on the one-stop shop right here without leaving the United States,” Mr Onyeama said.
Also speaking at the event, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms Yewande Sadiku, noted that $25 billion in Foreign Direct Investment is the target of the country in 2020.
She pointed out that the Federal Government was aware of the bottlenecks in the ways of investors and businesses, but assured that the problems were being addressed.
Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Anthony Orji, said the agency had in the last one year successfully executed one of such partnerships in agriculture.
“We put $25 million in a fund alongside an agriculture fund in South Africa which also put $25 million and we are raising $150 million.
“This is to be invested in primary production from crop farming to dairy farming and the first investment we have actually closed is a maize and soy farm integrated feed mill in Nasarawa state for expansion.
“Some of the people in this room are looking at opportunity in power, real estate, agriculture, healthcare and our role was to say NSIA is your partner of choice,” Mr Orji said.
Additional information from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited have continued to show excitement for the full-year earnings of companies on the exchange so far.
On Friday, Customs Street further appreciated by 1.01 per cent as more organization released their financial statements for the 2025 fiscal year.
During the session, traders continued their selective trading strategy, with the energy sector going up by 2.47 per cent at the close of business despite profit-taking in the banking counter, which saw its index down by 0.11 per cent.
Yesterday, the insurance space grew by 2.16 per cent, the industrial goods segment expanded by 1.70 per cent, and the consumer goods industry jumped by 0.42 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,722.13 points to 171,727.49 points from 170,005.36 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N1.106 trillion to N110.235 trillion from the N109.129 trillion it ended on Thursday.
Business Post reports that there were 59 appreciating stocks and 19 depreciating stocks on Friday, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Omatek, Deap Capital, and NAHCO gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N2.64, N6.82, and N136.40 apiece, as Zichis and Austin Laz appreciated by 9.98 per cent each to close at N6.72 and N5.40, respectively.
Conversely, The Initiates depreciated by 9.74 per cent to N19.45, DAAR Communications slumped by 7.32 per cent to N1.90, United Capital crashed by 6.55 per cent to N18.55, Coronation Insurance lost 5.71 per cent to quote at N3.30, and First Holdco shrank by 5.53 per cent to N47.00.
The activity chart showed an improvement in the activity level, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals up by 33.77 per cent, 93.27 per cent, and 10.63 per cent, respectively.
This was because traders transacted 953.8 million shares worth N43.1 billion in 51,005 deals compared with the 713.0 million shares valued at N22.3 billion traded in 46,104 deals a day earlier.
Fidelity Bank was the most active with 92.4 million units sold for N1.8 billion, Chams transacted 69.2 million units valued at N310.9 million, Deap Capital exchanged 59.1 million units worth N382.7 million, Access Holdings traded 57.2 million units valued at N1.3 billion, and Tantalizers transacted 48.6 million units worth N228.2 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira contracted against the United States Dollar on Friday by 13 Kobo or 0.01 per cent to N1,366.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) from the previous day’s value of N1,366.06/$1.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian currency also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday by N2.37 to N1,857.75/£1 from the N1,855.38/£1 it was traded on Thursday, and further depleted against the Euro by 57 Kobo to close at N1,612.52/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,611.95/€1.
In the same vein, the exchange rate for international transactions on the GTBank Naira card showed that the Naira lost N8 on the greenback yesterday to N1,383/$1 from the previous day’s N1,375/$1 and at the black market, the Nigerian currency maintained stability against the Dollar at N1,450/$1.
FX analysts anticipate this trend to persist, primarily influenced by increasing external reserves, renewed inflows of foreign portfolio investments, and a reduction in speculative demand.
In the short term, stability in the FX market is expected to continue, supported by policy interventions and improving market confidence.
Nigeria’s foreign reserves experienced an upward trajectory, increasing by $632.38 million within the week to $46.91 billion from $46.27 billion in the previous week.
The Dollar appreciation this week appears to be largely technical, serving as a correction to the substantial losses experienced from mid- to late January.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market slightly appreciated, with Bitcoin (BTC) climbing near $68,000, up nearly 5 per cent since hitting $60,000 late on Thursday after investor confidence in crypto’s utility as a store of value, inflation hedge, and digital currency faltered.
The sell-off extended beyond crypto, with silver plunging 15 per cent and gold sliding more than 2 per cent. US stocks also fell.
The latest recoup saw the price of BTC up by 4.7 per cent to $67,978.96, as Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 6.3 per cent to $2,021.10, and Ripple (XRP) surged by 9.5 per cent to $1.42.
In addition, Solana (SOL) grew by 7.3 per cent to $85.22, Cardano (ADA) added 6.1 per cent to trade at $0.2683, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 5.4 per cent to $0.0958, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 5.2 per cent to $53.50, and Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 2.3 per cent to $637.79, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher on Friday as traders worried that this week’s talks between the US and Iran had failed to reduce the risk of a military conflict between the two countries.
Brent crude futures traded at $68.05 a barrel after going up by 50 cents or 0.74 per cent, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures finished at $63.55 a barrel due to the addition of 26 cents or 0.41 per cent.
Iran and the US held negotiations in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Friday to overcome sharp differences over Iran’s nuclear programme.
It was reported that the talks had ended with Iran’s foreign minister saying negotiators will return to their capitals for consultations and the talks will continue.
Regardless, the meeting kept investors anxious about geopolitical risk, as Iran wanted to stick to nuclear issues while the US wanted to discuss Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region.
Any escalation of tension between the two nations could disrupt oil flows, since about a fifth of the world’s total consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, as does Iran, which is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
According to Reuters, Iran objected to the presence of any US Central Command (CENTCOM) or other regional military officials, saying that would jeopardise the process.
The current confrontation was sparked by more than two weeks of unrest in Iran that saw authorities launch a deadly crackdown that killed thousands of civilians and shocked the world. As reports of the deaths trickled out of Iran, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran if any of the tens of thousands of protesters arrested were executed.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s planned oil exports could fall by as much as 35 per cent this month via its main route through Russia, as the country’s top oil company, Tengiz oilfield, slowly recovers from fires at power facilities in January.
ING analysts have pointed out Iran’s neighbour, Iraq, and a disagreement with the US as another bullish factor for oil prices. It seems Iraqi politicians favour Mr Nouri al-Maliki as the country’s next Prime Minister, but the US thinks Mr al-Maliki is too close to Iran. President Trump has already threatened the oil producer with consequences if he emerges as PM.
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