Sadiku: $90.9bn Worth of Investment Interest Recorded in 2018

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms. Yewande Sadiku has said about $90.9 billion worth of investments were recorded in the country last year.

Speaking during an interaction with Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) in Abuja, she said there were 92 projects covering 23 states and the FCT.

She said 33 per cent of the investments came from Nigerian investors, which according to her was consistent with government’s efforts to get Nigerians to invest in their own county.

Other investment sources according to her included the UAE, France and UK.

The NIPC boss, however, explained that though the announcements were not actual investments, they nevertheless “give us direction and a sense of investor interest in Nigeria”.

She said: “We actually track it so that at the end of the quarter, half year, month or full year, we can say this is the total value of investment announcements that were made. We look at where the investments are supposed to be coming from.

“Remember they are announcements and not investments. The announcements related to mining and quarrying and oil and gas, manufacturing, construction, transportation and storage.”

She also said investor interest in the first quarter of 2019 could to be less than the same period in 2018 because of elections concerns.

Sadiku, also said the agency had statutory powers to register companies in the country, alongside the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

According to her: “There’s a provision in the NIPC Act and it’s always being in the NIPC Act. It says that any enterprise in which foreign participation is allowed, they should register with NIPC before they commence business. Any enterprise in which foreign participation is allowed.

“So I actually find myself that many people are not aware of this requirement even though it has always been in the NIPC Act. The object is that you register with CAC and then we register with NIPC.

“Part of the reforms that we would like to see is that the process of registering with CAC and registering with NIPC and subsequently registering with FIRS for your tax identification number is more seamless than it is currently. But that is still in a work that is in progress but it has always been a requirement of the NIPC Act.”