Buhari Woos Qatari Businesses, Promises to Remove Hurdles to Investment

Oil sustains rise as S’Arabia advocates cooperation on market stability

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the business community in Qatar that Nigeria will remove any impediment that hinders investment in the country.

His media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari spoke at a meeting with senior executives of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and some private businessmen in Doha on Sunday, adding that the president acknowledged that security was essential to prosperity and development.

Buhari said: “Nobody invests without first knowing how secure a country is. That is why we have placed a high premium on securing the country, because you cannot effectively manage a country you have not secured.

“My party campaigned on three main planks: security, employment generation and anti-corruption.

“We campaigned on zero corruption, promising that we would run an accountable government and we are keeping our promises.”

Referring to the decline of oil prices and its effect on the Nigerian economy, Buhari informed his hosts that Nigeria was blessed with vast arable land for agriculture and rich solid mineral deposits, which the businessmen could invest in and were guaranteed to reap rich returns in a short time.

“Agriculture and solid minerals will mobilise youths for gainful employment. We have the capacity not to need to import food at all.

“But we need to also tackle the infrastructure deficit in power, transportation, railways, roads, and in other areas. We will put together an articulate plan, which would be discussed with you shortly so that you can make investment decisions.

“All impediments like delayed processing of permits, multiple taxation, and corrupt practices, would be removed,” the president assured his audience.

Speaking on behalf of the Qatari businessmen, Muhammed Bin Ahmed Bin Towar Al Kuwari, Vice-Chairman of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said they would be interested in the financial, oil and gas, telecommunications, tourism, agriculture and food processing sectors, among others.

“All eyes are on Africa in the next decade. Africa is the next place for growth, the rest of the world is looking towards the continent, and Nigeria is an important part of that continent,” he said.

Buhari's meeting with the Qatari investors came a day before oil prices continued their rise for the third trading day in a row.

The price of Brent rose by two per cent yesterday, adding to strong gains recorded last week as Saudi Arabia said it would work with other oil producing countries to reduce volatility in the oil market.

Brent futures traded at $35.77 a barrel, while United States crude futures traded at $33.20.

Reuters reported that since February 11, the last time Brent was below $30, the benchmark price has risen by 17 per cent.

However, despite the recent gains, prices were still a fraction of the $115 per barrel of 20 months ago.

“The kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) seeks to achieve stability in the oil markets and will always remain in contact with all main producers in an attempt to limit volatility and it welcomes any cooperative action,” the Saudi cabinet said in a statement yesterday.

Saudi Arabia and several fellow OPEC members agreed with non-OPEC Russia this month to freeze output at January levels in an attempt to prop up prices.

Buhari on Sunday in Doha, Qatar told OPEC and non-OPEC members that the continued decline of oil prices was no longer acceptable.

At a bilateral meeting with the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hammad Al-Thani, Buhari said “as members of OPEC and Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), our relations in the areas of oil and gas, which our two nations heavily rely on, need to be enhanced and coordinated for the benefit of our people”.

“The current market situation in the oil industry is unsustainable and totally unacceptable. We must cooperate both within and outside our respective organisations to find a common ground to stabilise the market, which will be beneficial to our nations,” Buhari added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting with top managers of his country’s leading oil producers yesterday.

However, Iran remains the main obstacle to a global output freeze because it is determined to ramp up supply after the country’s emergence from international economic sanctions in January.

Iran said yesterday it had increased exports steeply over the past month. Exports climbed as high as 1.75 million barrels per day, adding to an already oversupplied market.

US producers cut the number of rigs drilling for oil for a tenth week running, taking the rig count to its lowest since December 2009.

A Reuters monthly poll showed yesterday that oil prices are expected to average a little more than $40 a barrel this year.