By Sunday Oyinloye
Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) yesterday launched Single Window Investors’ Portal (SWIP) that will enable investors do business registration with NIPC from the comfort of their computers. Besides, the Commission presented Q3 2021 Report of Investment Announcements, which NIPC publishes quarterly to give a sense of investors’ interest in the economy.
NIPC also presented to the media Expo 2020 Dubai-a Nigerian Trade & Investment Forum which is billed to take place in Dubai in December organized on behalf of the Nigerian government by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (through Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission) in collaboration with Nigerian- Arabian Gulf Chamber of Commerce (NAGCC)
Speaking at the event tagged NIPC meets the Press, Acting Executive Secretary/CEO of NIPC Emeka Offor said the proactive media engagement was aimed at enlightening the Media and ultimately the general public on the activities of the Commission
According to him, insightful and accurate reportage have contributed to the improving the perception of the Nigerian business environment by the international investing community as well as contributed to the quick recovery of the economy from the COVID-19 induced recession
Offor revealed that in third quarter of 2021, US$8.99 billion was tracked as investment announcements 33 projects across 8 states adding “in line with delivering on our mandate, the Commission is tracking investment announcements through our NIPC Intelligence Newsletter; the investment announcements give a fair sense of investors’ interest in the Nigerian economy”
He disclosed further that recently, NIPC had an engagement with State Investment Promotion Agencies aimed at building synergy across States for regional investment promotion and sustainable economic development
The Acting Executive Secretary said NIPC is working with relevant organisations under the coordination of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to organise Nigeria’s participation at the World Expo holding in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 1st October 2021 to 31 March 2022 under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”.
His words:” The Expo provides a platform for countries, multilateral organizations, foundations, and businesses to gather in one place to foster creativity, innovation and proffer solutions to universal problems. Over 25 million visitors from 192 countries are expected in Dubai during the period of the Expo. Nigeria will be hosting a trade and investment forum, as one of the side events, during the Expo. The forum would be held from 04 – 06 December 2021 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre”
Offor also gave an insight into how the Single Window Investors’ Platform came into being. According to him, the Commission had always envisaged a virtual One-Stop Investment Centre (OSIC)
“To this end, the Commission had been working on the Single Window Investors’ Platform. The Window which has four components is the e-business facilitation platform of NIPC which is fashioned in line with the e-government initiative of the Federal Government. The SWIP project commenced in 2020 aimed at enabling NIPC leverage technology to better deliver on its mandate
“e-OSIC has been completed and is now live. With e-OSIC, investors can now have access to all services offered at the One-Stop Investment Centre remotely, and apply for business registration, submit relevant documents, and make appropriate fee payments. Through the platform, NIPC will be able to track and review the services of participating agencies at the Centre” he said
Also speaking at the media engagement, the Director Strategic Services, Abubakar Yerima who presented the Investment Announcement of the third quarter said US$8.99 billion was tracked as investment announcements for the Q3 of 2021, 130% more than the value in the corresponding period in 2020 (US$3.95 billion).
According to him, a total of 33 projects were tracked across 8 States during the period stressing “the month of August was the most active during the quarter, accounting for 64% of the total announcements; the top 10 announcements accounted for 96% of the volume tracked. Compared to Q3 2020, there is a marked improvement in the level of confidence in the investing community post COVID-19.
In his presentation on Expo 2020 Dubai, Director Investment Promotion, Adeshina Emmanuel explained that the Expo comes once in five years stressing that it could not hold last year due to covid-19 pandemic.
Adeshina said it is also expected that Nigeria’s participation would attract foreign investments into the country adding that sectors of focus are Agriculture, Education, Technology, Transportation, and Construction among others.
He disclosed that necessary synergy is in place by the parent Ministry, Nigerian- Arabian Gulf Chamber of Commerce and NIPC to ensure a good outing for Nigeria at the event.
The representative of Nigerian –Arabian Gulf Chamber of Commerce at the media engagement, Abdul-Razaq Saliu Musa explained that the World Expo happens every 5 years adding that this is the first time it is being hosted in the Middle East.
According to him, “Nigeria’s participation is critical to boost FDI and transform our economy which made NAGCC took it upon its self to support Nigeria’s participation, by collaborating with the Ministry to provide financial, logistics and technical support so our dear nation can be recognised amongst her peers.
“Also, in collaboration with the NIPC, we will be organising a number of Investment Forums. So we invite both public and private entities to make use of this opportunity by participation and sponsorship, so we can come together to make our nation great.”
In his goodwill message, NIPC’s Governing Council Chairman, Rt. Hon. Babangida S.M Nguroje stressed the importance of media partnership with NIPC, a point which was reechoed by Director, Investor Relations, Hajia Gana Wakil, Director, Legal Services, Patience Okala and Head Press & Protocol,Daniel Awurum
