Okonjo-Iweala Hunts for FDI, Meets Soros, Others

Posted by admin Headlines Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Incoming Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commenced hunting for Nigeria’s needed foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States, with meetings with top financiers and key global investors.
This move is in pursuit of President Goodluck Jonathan’s focus on growing the economy by boosting investment and job creation in the country.

The meetings, which were held in New York and Washington DC, were centred on exploring opportunities in different sectors of the Nigerian economy especially with regards to financing important projects in the country.

THISDAY learnt that among the financial and investment heavyweights she had met so far were the iconic financier, Mr. George Soros, as well as the heads of two of the biggest investment banks in the US – Citigroup CEO, Mr. Vikram Pandit, and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Mr. Jamie Dimon.

According to a source at the meeting, the discussions were both “positive and promising”.
The investors are clearly interested in Nigeria and would invest under the right conditions and environment but they also expressed concern about some aspects of the country’s financial and economic management.

In particular, the financiers and investors would like to see a tighter approach to macroeconomic management, including a better budgetary process, improvements in the investment climate and greater transparency and rule of law in the country.

The source noted that there would be follow-up meetings in the weeks ahead to further explore specific ideas and possible projects.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the imminent arrival of Okonjo-Iweala to take control of the Ministry of Finance may have started yielding positive effect on international perception of the country’s economic prospects.

According to a recent report by Bloomberg, Nigeria’s dollar bond yields are at an all-time low in comparison with European stocks because of the country’s low debt stock and “expectations (that) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a managing director at the World Bank, will help spur policy changes to encourage investment when she returns to the cabinet”.

-ThisDaywp_posts