Chief Sunny Onuesoke, a chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in Delta state, has identified factors that constitute hindrance to foreign investment in Nigeria.
Onuesoke, a former guber aspirant in Delta, said poor security network and infrastructures are certain factors that slow down the interest of investors in Nigeria. Hence, he said Nigeria has not presented a perfect environment for foreign investors.
Onuesoke told journalists that Nigeria has presented an unfortunate situation where the bureaucratic bottlenecks and other socio-economic factors have acted as barricade to investors from trooping into the country.
The PDP chieftain spoke after a virtual business conference with some foreign investors. He agreed that the Nigerian environment and the bottlenecks of the agencies are the bane of attraction of foreign investors in the country.
According to him: “Government agencies’ bottleneck, corruption, insecurity, unwanted illegal or local taxation by customs, NPA, NAFDAC and inconsistent government policies among others are the causes of distraction of foreign investors to Nigeria.
“You cannot imagine where an investors’ goods that must have been legally cleared at the nation’s port only to be stopped at every poll by either custom officers, NAFDAC or Nigeria Standard Organisation demanding for one document or the other. You will see investor paying over and over for goods that have already been legally cleared at the wharf.”
Onuesoke noted that despite the fact that Nigeria is a wealthy nation, the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, adding that the government has not invested adequately in infrastructure.
“Nigeria has inadequate roads, highways and railroads for basic functions of commerce. Additionally, the country’s power grid is viewed as decrepit, making factory operations difficult,” he stated.
Onuesoke explained that potential investors in Nigeria cannot overlook the country’s inconsistent government policies, which have contributed to the nation’s poor reputation as a violent place with militias kidnapping innocent civilians and attacking oil assets.
Onuesoke, however, advised that few things Nigeria can do to boost foreign direct investment is to play fair by treating both foreign and domestic businesses equally through open, transparent and dependable conditions for all kinds of firms.
“Another area that needs attention is infrastructure. Businesses need easy access to ports, adequate and reliable supply of energy and relative certainty that the country will be good to invest in,” Onuesoke said.
