Investments: FG Combating Insecurity – Minister

Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, on Tuesday assured investors from the Netherlands that the Federal Government was addressing the issue of insecurity in the country.

Adebayo gave this assurance during a visit to him by the Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Harry Djik in Abuja.

According to a statement by Ifedayo Sayo, Special Assistant to the minister on Media, Djik visited the minister to seek his consent on the revival of bilateral trade consultation between the two countries.

The visit was also to address issues of insecurity and foreign exchange for investors in the country.

The minister said that President Muhammadu Buhari recently changed his service chiefs and took other security measures to assure Nigerians and the business community of his desire to ensure safety for all.

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He also spoke on the need to revive the bilateral consultation between the two countries which the spread of COVID-19 pandemic forced a postponement of further meetings.

Adebayo said that the ministry had already set up a working group on the bilateral consultation, hoping that before the end of the year the meeting would be revived.

He said that he had got a commitment from, Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on the issue of Forex, saying a meeting on the issue would be held soon on the matter.

He urged Netherlands investors to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to invest in the country to benefit from the huge continental market worth N4.23 trillion and cheap labour in the country.

He also urged them to take advantage of the economic Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in the country, saying the government was providing necessary infrastructure, particularly power supply at Kano and Calabar FTZs.

He noted that the Federal Government recently signed an agreement for the provision of 25MW of power to each of the FTZs in Kano and Calabar.

Djik, however, congratulated President Buhari and Adebayo on the emergence of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, describing it as “diplomatic victory for Nigeria”.