Nigeria’s Trade Minister Promises to Attract Investments

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, has promised to attract more investments into the country with a determination to promote a business-friendly environment for indigenous businesses to grow.

This followed her assumption of duty on Monday in Abuja after being sworn in by President Bola Tinubu, where the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Evelyn Ngige, and the directors in the ministry received her.

According to the medical doctor turned career banker, under her direction, she will ensure the creation of jobs, more employment, lifting of people above the poverty line, and ensuring that small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and industries that are already existing expand and grow better.

“Our job is to attract investments. There is so much opportunity. One of them I have already witnessed here is human resources.

“If we only just harnessed our human resource potential Nigeria would be great even without our mineral resources.

“Even without our non-mineral resources, only our human capital alone is enough to take us where we want to.

“Now combine that with the new potential we have with mineral and non-mineral deposits.

“I think it is just for us to open the doors and say, investors, please come; what do you want? We are here to facilitate that,’’ she said.

The Minister said that projecting Nigeria’s image positively was crucial in attracting investors and ensuring that businesses thrive in the country.

According to her, the ministry would ensure that the image of the country out there is as investment-friendly as the investments that we have here.

“So, I want to put that on the table, and we will be doing a whole lot of branding and image-making for the country because we have to re-introduce ourselves to the world.

“To tell the world what the country has and to tell it in the way that will make them happy to come.

“Secondly, apart from doing that is to ensure that we showcase the resources and the potential that we have in the country very well.

“This actually goes into more of having the investment opportunities clearly defined with all the necessary opportunities, processes, and procedures that they need to go through.

“It is important to make it clear to them to understand and then make it easy for them to assess,’’ she said.

Describing her assumption of duty as a new dawn, the Minister emphasised the need to do business to fit into global best practices.

“ This is not the era for growing money alone. This is the era of investment. This is the era to open your doors to attract investors to bring in people to showcase what you have.

“A lot of people are out there looking for how to come into the country. It is our opportunity, it is our time to make that happen, and I am happy to be on this journey with you,’’ she said.