US Consul-General hits FG, lists 6 minuses for US, foreign investors in Nigeria
A serious shock or eye opener may have been sent by United States (U.S.) High Commission Consul-General to Nigeria, Mr. F. John Bray to the federal government following his outburst that about $1.3billion American businesses in Nigeria are under threat of pullout.
The threats so listed by the envoy include regulatory inconsistency, security issues, instability in the exchange rate, policy inconsistency, poor electricity and paucity of business enabling infrastructure.
Analysts say the outburst further casts doubts on the performances of all the series of Executive Orders (1 to 6), so far introduced by the government to drive ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Though the diplomat did not make any comment to suggest political coloration to his comments to avoid linking the timing of the outburst close to a general election to swing votes, even indigenous investors and industry analysts say the threats are real.
Bray had noted that all American investors doing business in Nigeria are into three specific sectors including consumer products, oil and gas.
Speaking in Lagos at the 2018 International Investment Conference with the theme; ‘Promoting Investment, Connecting Business,’ Bray laced his position with a caveat, saying though the Nigerian economy was not growing at 2.3 per cent, unlike Cote d’Ivoire, which is growing at seven per cent, it is still the toast of investors as a result of this country’s population.
Business Hilights gathered that the forum was organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) as part of its ongoing 2018 International Trade Fair and Exhibitions at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos Island.
According to him, “American investors have issues with how policies are made and changed, noting that it has the capacity to discourage investors into the country”.
Taking part of his reasoning from the trending regulatory issues involving MTN, which had led to the directive for the telecom giant to return cash allegedly ferried out of the country without recourse to laid down procedures on Certificate of Capital Importation (CCI).
The federal government is yet to react to the comments of the US diplomat.
