While Nigeria remains a major attraction for British
and other investors across the world because of its population and the scale of
its market, the country would have to resolve its risk perceptions, so they
don’t overshadow the overflowing opportunities, Andrew Pocock, the British High
Commissioner to Nigeria, has said.
Also, economic and fiscal restructuring will
have to happen in the life of the new government, given the present economic
circumstances, he added.
The High Commissioner made the observations,
when he visited the president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Aigboje
Aig-Imoukhuede, in Lagos at the weekend to discuss issues around the Nigeria-UK
Capital Market Task Force, an initiative set up to build and expand foreign
capital flows between Nigeria and the UK.
Speaking at the event, Pocock said, “There is
no lack of interest in Nigeria. We want to make sure that the risk perceptions
don’t overshadow the opportunities that strongly reside in Nigeria.”
He added, “Nigeria is well beneath its
potential, and the contention is that Nigeria could be not just the largest
economy in Africa, but as large as the whole of west Africa put together”, if
the private sector leverages on the right capital and skills.”
Aigboje
Aig-Imhokhuede, president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said,“For our
economy to grow, we have to open it up, from a mutual flow stand point.
“One of the lower hanging fruits, in terms of
opening up the economy is either through trade or through the flow of capital.
The key thing for us in terms of capital flows, is for us to work on the
exchanges, markets, issuing houses and investors,” Imokhuede said.
Edozie Ifebi
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