By EMMANUELLA ANOKAM

The Nigerian Investment Commission (NIPC) says a more proactive all-government approach to investor support across federal and state governments is required to actualise investment announcements.

The NIPC’s Executive Secretary, Ms Yewande Sadiku, made the call at a quarterly news conference on Friday in Abuja.

She noted that concerted collaboration was needed to help the states to unlock the values of tracked investment announcements.

According to her, investment announcements which are released quarterly and showcased via NIPC’s website ‘www.nipc.gov.ng’ are tracked investments reports.

They comprised of investors, sectors, sources and destinations as well as the targeted monetary value of investments.

“They are not actual announcements but give us a sense of what is being expected and a chance of conversion of the tracked investment to translate to actual investments later on.

“What needs to be done to achieve Nigeria’s investment objective is based on the investment information. It is a material path to NIPC’s mandate.

“Each state in Nigeria has a capacity for material investment generation through its competitive advantage. The more states have capacity to promote investments the better for Nigeria,’’ she said.

The executive secretary said that the investment announcements data could showcase investors’ interest and only became actual investment once implemented.

She noted that investors fundamentally looked out for the size and prospect of the market and availability of resources that could be developed, including human materials.

Sadiku stated that part of the commission’s work was educating and engaging relevant senior government officials to help them understand what investors’ want, why investors may be leaving and what could be needed to stem their exit.

Mr Emeka Offor, Director, Department of Strategic Communications, NIPC, gave a presentation titled, ‘Understanding the Investment Announcement Data’.

He said that the gaps between investment announcements collated and actual announcements could demonstrate investment potential.

“It showcases investors’ interests, indicates the economy’s attractiveness to direct investment capital and generates leads for follow-up action.”

Offor stated that the investment data aimed at promoting healthy competition for capital among investment location in the country and should not stir up unhealthy rivalry among the sub-national governments.

According to him, the NIPC did not independently verify the authenticity of the investment announcements but is working on tracking the announcements as they progress to actual investments.

Speaking on global flow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), he noted that Africa accounted for an average of three per cent of global annual inflow.

Offor noted that FDI flows, which were already under pressure before COVID-19 impact, were expected to be worse than the global financial crisis.

He explained that material FDI flows could only be driven by bold and coherent government policies including economic reforms to reverse decline expected in 2020 and 2021. (NAN)

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