Nigeria Need To Cut Down Cost Of Governance,Fight Corruption To Boost Economy Again: Analyst

Nigeria Need To Cut Down Cost Of Governance,Fight Corruption To Boost Economy Again: Analyst

An investment expert, Mr Kalu Abosi, on Friday assessed the Nigerian economic climate and said it was still attractive for foreign investments.
Abosi, who is the Head of Corporate Finance and Capital Markets, SPA Ajibade and Company, made the assessment in a lecture entitled “Nigeria-macro Economic Environment and Implications for Foreign Investment”.
The lecture was organised by the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce in Lagos.
He said that Nigeria’s economic climate was still attractive for foreign investment despite its present challenges.
The expert remarked that Nigeria, as the largest economy in Africa, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 549.6 billion dollars, was still attracting foreign investments, especially from private equity funds.
“Amidst the challenging economy, Nigeria’s foreign direct investment still remains the third highest in Africa.
“Better understanding of the vagaries of doing business in Nigeria creates savvier investors.
“Monthly Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) transaction at the Nigeria Stock Exchange, which was N125 billion at the end of 2014, decreased to N99 billion at the beginning of 2015, down by 20.39 per cent from December, 2014.
“Domestic investors gave up approximately 4.48 per cent of trading to foreign investors, reducing from 51.76 per cent to 47.76 per cent while FPI transaction rose from 48.24 per cent to 52.24 per cent,’’ he said.
Abosi added that the present economic challenges faced by Nigeria were not insurmountable as things were not as bad as people made them to appear.
He said that irrespective of the outcome of upcoming general elections, Nigeria would continue to grow economically.
“Growth in the economy will continue even if at lower than forecast rates, if government adopts reduced cost of governance by cutting wastes and fighting corruption,’’ he said.
In his speech, President of the chamber, Mr Folusho Phillips, urged the Federal Government to deal with corruption at all levels.
According to him, corruption kills the economy of the country. (NAN)