 |
| Search |
|
|
|
|
| Last Updated: Dec 5th, 2008 - 14:03:20 |
Home page
Welcome to Nigeria: The ideal investment and tourist destination
Nov 19, 2008, 18:26
| | Welcome to Nigeria: The ideal investment and tourist destination
By Femi Ajayi
Every foreigner coming to Nigeria for the first time most probably does so with some level of anxiety, fear or trepidation. He or she has been fed with scary stories of scammers, 419 fraudsters, reproductive organ-snatching ritual killers, and recently, hostage-taking gun-totting youths!
If you are a foreign investor, you are inundated with fables of greedy, corrupt and obstructionist government officials who make official transactions a nightmarish experience. A business tycoon is, in a similar vein, confronted with gory tales of multiple taxations, abnormally high tariffs and numerous exploitative official levies. If you are a tourist you are scared off by a deluge of stories of irregular power supply, unreliable telecommunication and of course the much-vaunted high crime rate.
Predictably, in the true spirit of Nigeria-pessimism and selective perception, you are told nothing about the usually boisterous, jovial, welcoming, friendly and foreigner-loving Nigerian populace. You are also kept ignorant of the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria; outstanding in its complexity and distinctive in its variety. Nothing is said about the country’s ecological variability and biological diversity.
It is therefore usually a pleasant surprise when a determined, adventurous and courageous foreigner, against all odds and rational persuasions, takes the seeming suicidal plunge and gets to Nigeria to find out that the country is not the den of robbers or failed state they had expected to see. The cynical tourist may even be mildly disappointed that Nigeria is neither a den of armed robbers nor Nigerians the barbarians he has been indoctrinated to expect. After all, the world thrives on gross ignorance and pervasive prejudice.
Nigeria-phobia notwithstanding, the truth is there for all with eyes to see: Nigeria is a land of opportunities for foreigners looking for where to invest, where to relax and where to trade. For many incontrovertible reasons, Nigeria should be the preferred destination in Africa for foreign investors, traders or tourists.
Nigeria is a country of over 140 million people that constitutes a captive market and potential source of demand for any good or service provided for an affordable fee. Nigeria occupies 92 million hectares of land of suitable for either agriculture or other economic activities. With a varied climatic pattern that creates various ecological zones and corresponding agricultural possibilities, practically every crop or animal can be grown or raised in one or more parts of the country. Nigeria is a country waiting for those interested in investing in mechanized and commercial agriculture.
Talking about industrial potentials, Nigeria is rich in oil and gas deposits. Nigeria’s gas deposits are in trillions and untapped. Nigeria is actually described by hydrocarbon experts as a gas country with a little oil! Nigeria is in dire need of foreign investors to go into gas-utilization projects such as nitrogenous fertilizer plants as well as gas-based power-generating concerns. Even the development of the oil sub-sector is still partial and haphazard with its undue reliance on foreign experts and inputs. The oil sector is crying for more value addition and local content. There is a need for solid foreign investments in the downstream sector to locally process and transform the raw hydrocarbons into petrochemical products. There is a big vacuum in this area as Nigeria currently spends billions of dollars importing most of its petrochemical feed stocks and final products when all these could be locally manufactured from the raw materials that are sourced right here in Nigeria.
In terms of natural resources, Nigeria is endowed with abundant solid minerals ranging from precious metals (including gold and silver) to gemstones and industrial minerals such as barites, gypsum, kaolin and marble, many of which are yet to be exploited. Great opportunities exist for the exploitation and export of bitumen, limestone, coal, tin, columbite, tantalum, gold, silver, lead, zinc, gypsum, clays, silica, asbestos, graphite and iron ore. Just like Nigeria’s oil deposits, the country has one of the best quality coal deposits in the world, with the lowest sulphur content.
Aside from Nigeria’s natural resource endowments, it has some underutilized infrastructures to support massive investments. The country has 21 airports (5 of these international) with passenger’s traffic at 5.4 million per annum (Domestic and International). Similarly, there are 8 Sea Ports with an annual through-put of 49 million tons. Given the on-going GSM revolution and the huge potential for Information Technology penetration and utilization, Nigeria is a prospective ICT hub for Africa. This is not a far-fetched dream given the number of under-employed but highly creative and energetic youths.
In addition, the Nigeria Investment Promotion, with is fast-track mechanism – the One Stop Investment Centre (OSIC) – has simplified the process of business registration and foreign investment in Nigeria. All the frustrating red-tapes and bureaucratic bottlenecks on the path of new or existing investors have been eliminated by this pro-active outfit.
With Nigeria’s ambitious development goals such as Vision 2020 and seven-point agenda, it is clear that Nigeria currently has a leadership that is in a hurry to develop the polity and give dividends of democracy to the citizenry. The country has the biggest economy in West Africa, a liberalized foreign exchange system, stable and healthy financial system and a virile capital market with enough potential and prospects to become the financial hub of Africa. This profile is a boon to investors who crave quick returns on investment and easy repatriation of profits.
Moreover, the quality and numerical strength of Nigerians in the Diaspora are such that they should be a catalyst to foreign investment and tourism in Nigeria. Diaspora Nigerians constitute both a financial resource and intellectual capital for executing the Nigerian development project.
As for fun-loving tourists, Nigeria is the place to be with its combination of cultural tourism (array of festivals, ancient grooves, heritage sites, ancestral homes and sundry cultural centres) and ecological tourism (good climate, 800km stretch of beaches, mountains, waterfalls, warm springs, exotic animals and indigenous wildlife parks). Nigeria is blessed with clement weather all the 12 months and 365 days of the year. Tourists who have savoured the goodies of Nite-shift and the Colloseum in Lagos or the Grand Mirage and Blakes in Abuja would testify that there is thriving night life in most Nigerian cities despite the mischievously sensational stories of rising crime waves.
From all indications, Nigeria is a country full of potentialities, possibilities and prospects. It is an emerging economic power that has something nice to offer to every visitor, whether investor, tourist or business tycoon. You will be negligent not to want a piece of the big pie.
True, there may be incidents of power outage, poor transportation and even some bureaucratic bottleneck to contend with, yet where can you get flesh without bones, flowers without thorns, palm wines without fleas or rain without cloud? Nigeria’s infrastructural deficits and other problems are more than compensated for by the high and quick returns on investment. Coming to Nigeria to invest, to relax or to trade? Come but do so with your hands clean and with your eyes wide open and you would be glad you did. Remember, fortune favours the brave.
Femi Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant on Development Cooperation to Nigeria’s Vice President.
© Copyright 2008 nigeriafirst.org
Top of Page |
|
|
