The Nigerian Ambassador to Belgium, Obinna Onowu, says the Federal Government is ready to provide adequate measures and incentives to ensure that prospective foreign investors reap benefits from their investments.
Ambassador Onowu gave the assurance at the weekend in Brussels, during a ‘‘meet and greet’’ event with members of the Belgium-Luxembourg-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce (BLNCC).
A statement issued by the Nigerian mission in Belgium, signed by Mrs Olamide Adeniran, a Counsellor, said the parley afforded the Nigerian Ambassador the opportunity to apprise the international investors of the huge investment opportunities in Nigeria.
Commending the BLNCC and Embassy staff for organizing such an important event, Onowu was quoted to have said that Nigeria is a major investment hub in Africa and the largest economy in Africa.
”For a country that had just crawled out of a recession last year, in the first quarter of this year, it recorded 0.5 per cent growth in its GDP while in the second quarter, 5.01% which served as a huge plus to the economy.
”It is noteworthy that the 5.01 per cent growth recorded in the second quarter, 92 per cent of it was from the non-oil sector,” he said.
Acknowledging the challenges facing the country, Ambassador Onowu stated that these challenges were potential business opportunities in disguise for investors.
”The present Nigerian Government had worked tirelessly to diversify the economy beyond oil and creating opportunities for investment in the non-oil sector especially in the areas of Agriculture, ICT, Health, Manufacturing, and Construction which have all yielded positive results,” he stated.
He further recognized the presence of SIAT Group of Companies and DEME Group in Nigeria where they have been making huge profits, and encouraged other Belgian companies to explore the untapped resources Nigeria had to offer.
In his remarks, the Chairman of BLNCC, Mr. Chris Amssoms, recognized the Nigerian economy as the most important economy on the African continent, adding that it was his honour to introduce Ambassador Onowu to the business community in Belgium.
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