Yesterday, the United States (U.S.) said Nigeria offers “compelling opportunities for investors” but it must remove barriers to investment.
It also indicated the readiness of American companies to do business in Nigeria.
U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken stated this yesterday after talks with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
Blinken, who was on a four-nation African tour, addressed reporters along with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Maitama Tuggar.
Blinken said his talks with the President “dwelt on a range of common priorities, including our focus on accelerating economic growth and opportunity here.”
“Now, Nigeria offers real, clear, compelling opportunities for investors. At the same time. I think it’s no secret that there remain some long-term challenges that need to be overcome, to unlock the full potential, tackle corruption, make it easier for foreign companies, to repatriate capital, these will all pull in a transformative direction and pull in transformative direct investment”, he said.
The U.S. top diplomat said: “We welcome the President’s bold reforms to unify the currency and end fuel subsidy.
“There remain some impediments that we hear from our business community that I think stand in the way of maximizing those opportunities. One is the repatriation of capital. I know that the Central Bank Governor is working on that and second is the ongoing effort to combat corruption because companies that come in and invest want to make sure that they’re going to be investing with a fair level playing field and corruption, of course, is a big impediment. I do think we’re seeing real improvement”.
