At Investopia, UAE Eyes Over $10bn Investments in Nigeria’s Infrastructure, Agriculture, Tech Sectors

• Oduwole: Nigeria offers strong gateway to AfCFTA markets

•Sanwo-Olu woos investors, says Lagos international financial centre will unlock funding

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Minister of Investment, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mr. Mohamed H. Alsuwaidi, has projected that the government and private sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would invest over $10 billion into the Nigerian economy within the coming years.

This comes as Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the country remains a strong landing board to invest and access the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Also, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, urged local and international investors to invest in the State, saying it is ready and willing to partner with them.

They all spoke yesterday during the first “Investopia Global Africa” that was cohosted by Nigeria and the UAE in Lagos, Nigeria.

Alsuwaidi said he was slightly disappointed in terms of the smallness of investment both countries have recorded in their close to 50 years of bilateral commercial trade relations.

He added: “Reflecting on Nigeria and the potential that is here, I am surprised that we have not deployed significantly much (investments).

“And I think that with this government (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration), we see a window where our size of investment should be in the tens of billion dollars hopefully in the coming years.”

Alsuwaidi said the UAE sees endless opportunities in Nigeria across industries, infrastructure, entertainment, financial services, agricultural lands for export of products, public transport, utilities, power, mining, warehousing, and wastewater recycling, depending on legal frameworks.

“I see a lot of opportunities. But translating them depends on getting information to make the right decisions and being able to find either a private sector or government partner.

“I do not think trust is an issue. But understanding the market is an issue. That is why I said that this event can be the most crucial because we have hundreds of businesses in the room to exchange cards with and make some friends,” he added.

He, however, indicated that he would prefer that the investments should be private sector-driven by building deeper business-to-business relationships between the UAE and Nigeria.

According to him, “I am not against government working. But I think that there are more deals to be done at the private sector level.

“The UAE investors want to work with the government but they also want to work with the private sector.”

He remarked that the most important path to success is transparency, adding that the UAE would focus on quick wins.

“There are great projects that take years to develop. But there are low hanging fruits, which could be executed.

“So, I will say let us focus on those low-hanging fruit. Let us try and build bridges with the private sector. And on mega projects, let us be transparent.”

In her remarks, Oduwole said Nigeria has numerous investment opportunities, including 44 solid minerals in commercial quantities across the country, agri-business, AI, technology, data centres, critical networth infrastructure, and financial services.

Other investment opportunities in Nigeria, she said, included tourism, real estate development along the Coastal Road, infrastructure, oil and gas, aviation, and Free Economic Zones that we are repurposing with regulations.

Oduwole said: “I will say that Nigeria is a strong board landing to access the AfCFTA.

“So the UAE’s investors should feel free to look at Nigeria as a hub to enter the African region,” adding that “we are welcoming new friends and strategic old friends across the world to join us to taking this economy to a $1 trillion economy.”

She said the UAE and the Gulf region have capital but with small populations and investment space.

“But I see spaces in Africa, particularly in Nigeria with higher returns.

“Your capital will be safe here. We have taken time to build the legal framework. We have taken time to ensure that there is G2G (government-to-government) trust that has grown over the last few years.

“We are here for you and to take the capital. Every challenge is an opportunity. The business environment is ready to take you.

“I am committing personally, on behalf of my President and the Nigerian private sector, that we will facilitate these deals to make sure they are done properly,” Oduwole said.

Sanwo-Olu, urged local and international investors to invest in the State, saying it was ready and willing to partner with them.

He assured them of his administration’s commitment to providing infrastructure and a secure and safe environment for businesses in the State.

According to Sanwo-Olu, Lagos, in the last six and a half years of his administration, has provided infrastructure across the State in different sectors and was willing to partner with investors to do more for the people.

“Lagos is positioning itself, leading the Nigerian conversation, and we are getting tremendous support from the federal government because, at the end of the day, all of those investments sit at the sub-national.

“I want to assure all of our local and international investors that Lagos is indeed a willing and ready partner. Whatever the red tapes there are, we are removing them. We also want to step back and let the businesses run for themselves. The security environment is safe, sound, and secure.

“Lagos State made an investment in the Lekki Port, which is the biggest deep port in the country. We are also making an actual investment in the Badagry Port. It is all about partnerships and creating an enabling environment.

“Lagos State is planning, with the support of the federal government, to build another international airport. That is also forward-looking.

“Lagos State is also planning to build the largest logistics hub that will ensure that all of the markets that are in the agribusiness can sit in Lagos and work well, “ he added.

Sanwo-Olu also spoke about his administration’s commitment to boosting the State and national economy through the Lagos International Financial Center (LIFC), which is a joint initiative of the Lagos State Government and EnterpriseNGR.

He said: “We have had extensive conversations around the path of the Lagos International Financial Centre (LIFC). We started this journey in 2023. We still have another eight months to a year to finally unveil it. The beauty of it is the amount of global support that we are receiving.

“We are trying to learn from various regions to bring about a model that will be a true African model that will work for everyone but will also be a Nigerian model.

“We are actually thinking globally. We are thinking about how to remain competitive, resilient, and able to play on the same level of platforms with other big cities and other big markets in the world.

“The Lagos International Financial Centre we are talking about is not just about Lagos; it is really a conversation about Nigeria, but it has to be in a city and a place where it can also be attractive and be ready to unlock the investment,” he added.

In his welcome address, the Chief Executive of Investopia, Dr. Jean Fares, said Nigeria was the first African country to host Investopia that connect global capital to the UAE economy.

Fares said: “All our gatherings are to deepen the global dialogues and to transmit dialogues to partnerships and partnerships into investments.

“This is our first Investopia in Africa. We wanted it to take place in Nigeria, and we wanted it to take place at the beginning of the year.”

He said the occasion was focused on infrastructure, logistics and financial systems capable of mobilising capital in scale and a resilient supply chain for the hanging global economy.

The Permanent Secretary of FMITI, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi, said that the economic reform of Tinubu’s administration has created an enabling investment environment.

“We are confident that the conversations and engagements that will take place today will contribute meaningfully to the strengthening of our countries’ economies and bilateral relationship,” Rimi said.

The event also witnessed a Memorandum of Understanding signing announcement between the Founder and Managing Partner of Digital Energy, UAE, and the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of First E&P, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi-Bero.