Hughes: Clarity on Macroeconomic Variables Will Attract Foreign Investments

The Chief Investment Officer at Honeywell Group Limited (HGL), Mr. Otu Hughes, has said that the government’s ability to provide some clarity on key macroeconomic indices will not only help investors make positive decisions but also attract foreign investments into the country.

He said providing clarity on the foreign exchange regime and inflation as well as tackling the present security challenges would go a long way to boosting investor confidence in the Nigerian economy.

Speaking in an interview with THISDAY at the recently concluded 28th Nigerian Economic Summit, Hughes noted that Nigeria has a lot of great potential, particularly its huge population, culture, and entrepreneurial youths -all of which he said, make the country more attractive to the global community.

But, he said, “Investors from the outside are looking for clarity for some of those things to make it clearer for them to be able to invest.

“Those of us who are indigenous don’t have that option in terms of waiting for clarity but we have to keep on investing because this is our home and this is where we are, and so we have to keep on investing.

“However, we also want the clarity to make it easier to invest more but we have to find ways to be creative to invest and to grow our country.”

He also said addressing forex availability was also important to reassure prospective investors.

He said, “if you look at the rate at the I&E Window for example it is the issue of availability. The challenge is that if you bring the money in from those who are offshore today, getting it out is not that easy at a reasonable rate.

“So, the challenge for anybody sitting outside is how to think through that and it is not easy. If you can’t answer those questions easily - if you’re outside and trying to bring your money in and you can’t answer those questions confidently to your supervisors, it is difficult.”