Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Tony O. Elumelu, CON, charged the public
sector to urgently fix bureaucracy and the process of doing business in
Nigeria to promote, attract and retain willing investment partners in
the country.
 |
| 2017 National Insurance Conference |
He made this call yesterday while discussing the topic “Nigeria Open
for Business” at the 2017 National Insurance Conference organised by the
Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC), which held at Transcorp
Hilton, Abuja.
In his speech, Elumelu commended the Buhari-Osinbajo administration
for their efforts so far in stabilising the Nigerian economy, but noted
that much more still needs to be done to transform Nigeria into a
country capable of attracting the right investments. He stated that
bureaucracy is a major challenge that needs to be tackled with a sense
of urgency to curb excessive losses. Citing a personal example, he
mentioned that the delays in the public sector led to a negative return
on investment that forced his proprietary investment company, Heirs
Holdings, to suspend the pursuit of its insurance license despite
meeting the eligibility requirement and capitalisation benchmark.
“This bureaucracy is a cause for concern and if not tackled, will
discourage otherwise willing investors from within and outside the
country,” he said. “Heirs Insurance Limited is an example where despite
focused attempts to finalise a licence, the delay in processing has cost
our company significantly in terms of resources and return on
investment.”
Elumelu proposed that Nigeria’s transformation can only be achieved when the government and private sector work together in “shared Purpose,”
to create the economic and social wealth for the people. He defined
shared purpose as an alignment and commitment to 3Es – employment,
empowerment and economic opportunity, where the government partners with
the private sector to, not only design a business climate that creates
job opportunities for the youths as in the case of the Tony Elumelu
Foundation, but prioritises small and medium businesses.
In response to the speech, the representative of the Deputy Governor
of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Okwu Joseph Nnanna, commended
Elumelu on the points raised, stating that the sector will proactively
address the issues raise.
Elumelu ended his speech by calling on the government to define
policies that ease the process of doing business in Nigeria.
“Predictability and consistency of policies must be embraced by our
policy makers. We need the public sector to be willing partners in establishing the right, investment-worthy business environment we need in Nigeria. This is the only way Nigeria can be truly open for business,” he concluded.
Other guests present at the event included the Commissioner for
Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Alhaji Mohammed Kari,
and Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment
(MITI).
No comments:
Post a Comment