Emerging Africa Unveils Book to Guide Investors
A drop in global flow of Foreign Direct Investment, (FDI) by 23 per cent in 2017, has created an urgent need to make the global investment environment more conducive through open and non-discriminatory investment policies.
Group Chief Executive Officer of Emerging Africa Capital Group (EAC), Toyin Sanni stated this in her new book, ‘Riding the Eagle’, which examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Nigerian investment market.
The book was launched on the sidelines of EAC inaugural board meeting, chaired by renowned economist, Mrs. Nike Akande.
According to the author, the work is directed at local and foreign investors who wish to explore the Nigerian market.
She said that the idea of the book was to correct misconceptions in the market and her quota towards making Nigeria a sustainable preferred destination for FDI flows.
According to Sanni, African economies are naturally some of the worst hit by the reversal in global FDI. She pointed out that Nigeria often attracted global attention for wrong reasons, such as economic mismanagement, corruption, terrorism, extreme poverty, infrastructure deficiencies and financial inequalities, amongst others.
“Regardless, a growing segment of global investment market is beginning to realise the significant investment opportunities that the country offers. Investors are learning to properly dimension the opportunities in the market to adopt measures to appropriately evaluate, mitigate, transfer or otherwise manage the risks of playing in Africa’s market.”
She added that the book provides answers to a wide range of questions that an investor may want to know about the business sectors in the country.
Reviewing the book, Managing Partners of London based Anthem Advisory LLP, and a non-Executive Director on the EAC group, Lucien Moolenaar , described the book as an excellent ‘go-to’ source book, coming at a right time.
He noted that for as much as Nigeria was imaged in its weaknesses, investors around the world find it hard to ignore the scale of investment opportunities the country boasts of.
“The book is more practical than academic, more pragmatic than ideological and written from the perspective of one of the most experienced and innovative investment bankers in the market. I therefore recommend the book for those who have already invested in the Nigerian market or aspiring to enter it,” he said.
Nigerian Breweries Plc., NBplc, has restated its commitment to educational development by sustaining the ‘Maltina Teachers of the Year’ initiative, geared towards the improvement and motivation of teachers through reward.
This year, the initiative produced and rewarded not less than 26 teachers from different states with N500,000 each for their outstanding work.
Managing Director, NBplc, Mr. Jordi Borrut Bel explained that in line with its philosophy of ‘Winning with Nigeria’, the company resolved in 1994, to play a more active role in the development of education in the country, which was why it established the Nigerian Breweries – Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund with a commencement capital of N100 million.
He added that in 2015, the company’s intervention in education was expanded to include teachers when the ‘Maltina Teacher of the Year’ initiative was launched.
According to him, the idea was hinged on the realisation that teachers hardly got the recognition they deserved in spite of the pivotal role they play in determining the quality of education and the future of the country.
He said that the committed fund has so far impacted over 25,000 students with over 400 classrooms, 30 libraries and laboratories built in over 40 communities across Nigeria.
The programme this year saw an Abuja based teacher, Olasunkanmi Samuel Opeifa, win the teacher of the year award.
Opeifa, a teacher in Government Day Secondary School, Karu, Abuja was rewarded with one million Naira in addition to N500,000 he received as state champion from Abuja.
He will also get N1 million every year for the next five years and a block of six classrooms built at his school.
Olalekan Adeeko, a Computer Studies teacher from Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, Ogun State emerged the first runner-up, while Mr. Samuel Temitope Popoola, a Physics teacher with Deeper Life High School, Akure, Ondo State clinched the second runnerup position.
Apart from the N500,000 reward, as State Champion, the first and second runners-up got an additional N1 million and N750,000, respectively.
In his remark, Opeifa said: “Today, I am very happy and proud to say that teachers’ rewards are both in heaven and on earth. My father never believed in me as a teacher, but my passion kept me going on the job. I’m indeed happy for a day like this; I want to specifically thank my wife who has been supportive. This appreciation can only make me get better.”