Nigeria remains one of the top three destinations for Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, in Africa, despite the country’s security challenges, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said.
According to the UNCTAD report released last night, FDI inflows into Africa rose by four percent to $57 billion, with Nigeria’s inflow standing at N5.6 billion in 2013.
Only seven countries in Africa went above the $3 billion FDI inflow point, they are Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana and Sudan.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) yesterday in Vienna, said it would establish an Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) in Nigeria.
The Commissioner for Industry and Private Sector Promotion, ECOWAS, Mr. Kalilou Traore, who spoke during the UNIDO forum on Strategies and Instruments for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, said the recently launched Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan was a model for Africa, noting that foreign investments would always thrive in the right environment.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, who also acknowledged the massive investments by Nigerian companies in the country despite the current challenges, noted that ITPO would help to promote Nigeria’s local and foreign direct investment and technology, in addition to boosting job creation, technology transfer and industrial development.
“There are only a few countries in the world where UNIDO has set up ITPO to promote investment into the area of technology.
“Its establishment in Nigeria will have a big positive impact on the economy,” Aganga said.
