The Nigeria-U.S. Investors Roundtable Monday in New York, attracted major players eager to engage with the country as well businesses that welcomed the opportunity invest in the economy
The Roundtable, held on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting was organized by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in partnership with the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), US Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Council on Africa (CCA)
It was well attended by companies such as Denham Capital, Atlas Merchant Capital LLC, IBM, SAAB North America, Citigroup INC, Coronation Capital, Greenwish Partners, Skypower Global, Procter and Gamble, The Boeing Company, US Chamber of Commerce, Mclarty Associates, Glaxosmithkline, Wall St Strategic Capital, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Lekoil, Massmart Holdings Ltd/Wallmart, Development Finance International (DFI), Albright Stonebridge Group among others
The CEO of CCA Florizelle Liser observed: “we value and appreciate the opportunity to host this event – BCIU, CCA, US Chamber of Commerce and Nigeria. Whether it’s a billion or 25 billion (investment), we’re at the table, count us in”.
Clifford Samuel of Gilead Sciences INC emphasized the relation between healthcare and productivity, and therefore expressed his company’s desire to partner with Nigeria to produce and deliver medication for Hepatitis C
In his remarks, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, : “Nigeria of the future will be dramatically different from the past…..We are building infrastructure, we are providing the enabling environment and we are improving on the ease of doing business.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama who represented President Muhammadu Buhari told the audience that Nigeria is doing everything possible to rebrand and present itself as a reliable partner. He went on to say the country plans to turn its embassies around the world into business hubs, providing all information required by businesses as well as acting as a one-stop-shop for investment
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NIPC Yewande Sadiku said the organizations target is a $25billion Foreign Direct Investment, surpassing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) target
On his part, the CEO of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Uche Orji stated that “some of the people in this room are looking at opportunities in power, real estate, agriculture, healthcare and our role was to say, NSIA is your partner of choice”.
Other government officials who attended the event are the Minister of Mines and Steel Development Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Minister of State, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed,
The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment also held other successful business meeting with fund managers (private equity and stock), Kuramo Capital Management, SinoMach, Foster-Wheeler, etc.
