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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) and Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), on Monday, agreed to strengthen their relationship and collaborate on ways to attract investors into the country, especially in the South West regional of the country.
NIPC is an agency of the Federal Government saddled with the responsibility of encouraging, promoting, coordinating investments in Nigeria.
During a round table discussion held at DAWN headquarters in Ibadan, the Director-General of DAWN, Mr. Seye Oyeleye, said it is imperative at this time to put on a thinking cap as a country to attract right investors to boost the dwindling economy of the nation.
Oyeleye, who said there is no better organisation to talk to on investment in Nigeria than the NIPC, stressed that there is no other way to show DAWN’s preparedness than to engage the agency.
“We are glad to host them, to share ideas on how investment can be attracted into the country and how we can also jointly brainstorm to move the country forward, particularly, in the area of business environment.
“Though we operate within the six South West states, when we focus on attracting investors to the region, they don’t just look at the region but look at the country as a whole,” the DG said.
Oyeleye said part of the several challenges making investors to be reticent in putting their investment in Nigeria is that there is no stability and uniformity in the way of operation.
“If I move my business to Kano for example, what happens there is different to what happens in Lagos or Ibadan.
“What an investor wants most is the stability. I don’t want to bring in my $100 million to invest and tomorrow morning, you are saying, I can only repatriate a million out of it,” he said.
According to Oyeleye, the primary job of DAWN is to project the six South West states as an economic bloc, calling for further collaboration between NIPC and DAWN.
In his remarks, the Acting Executive Secretary of NIPC, Mr. Emeka Offor, who was represented by Director, States Co-ordination Department, Ahmad Isah Ghoudi, commended the commission for its effort in transforming the South West region.
Ghoudi said the meeting was to strengthen the relationship between the two organisations.
He urged Nigerians to always push a correct and good narrative about the country anywhere they find themselves.
“To attract investors takes a lot of energy and efforts, and once they are here, how we treat them matters too,” Ghoudi added.