Emefiele Wins Forbes Award, Says Nigeria Good for Investment

By Kunle Aderinokun, Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, Obinna Chima and Nume Ekeghe, in Washington DC 

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has urged global investors to take advantage of huge opportunities in the Nigerian economy, saying the environment is good for investment.

Emefiele spoke just as Forbes Magazine, Thursday night bestowed on him  the Forbes’ 2017 ‘Best of Africa Achievement’ award on the sidelines the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Washington DC.

Emefiele, in his remarks after receiving the award, told his audience that Nigerians are hospitable and good people, saying “that is why we make bold to say Nigeria is good for business.”

He added: “There are very big countries in the world you will visit today and say you want to invest. The returns are not as high as you have in Nigeria. We want to invite you. That for me is the message we have here today. Come to Nigeria, Nigerians will receive you. 

“Come to Nigeria, you will be happy in Nigeria. We are battling with unemployment in Nigeria, and that is the reason again the President called on the Federal Ministry of Agric, CBN, Minister of Employment, Labour and Productivity, and some important stakeholders including the governors together and said there was a need to start thinking about how we can create jobs for our people through agriculture; that agriculture should not be seen as business that is meant for the poor, that you can make money from agriculture.    

“Countries that have progressed have done so because they took the agriculture sector very seriously. We are determined to make agriculture the sector where people make money and we have decided to put in place the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). 

“Before we introduced the ABP, farmers go to farm rice and all the yield they were getting was one to 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare. After we started the ABP, today we are beginning to see farmers getting yield as high as eight metric tonnes per hectare, reducing their costs and making it possible to make their money in rice cultivation. 

“We have seen that there is a need for us to thing about how do we improve the wealth of our rural community. We started that journey and through rice, we have achieved that. The Nigerian government is confident that through agriculture, the wealth of our people can be boosted. And that is the journey we are on.  

“We want to invite all of you, our friends and foreign investor friends; I heard the President of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) talked about the fact that there are foreign investors that are interested in agriculture in Nigeria. We welcome you. Come, Nigeria will receive you.”

Furthermore, Emefiele commended Forbes for finding him worthy of receiving the prestigious award, just as he thanked Nigerians for standing by the Central Bank during the difficult times. 

“I say difficult times then, although I make bold now to say we are out of it. Like you all know, the last three years have been tumultuous not just for Nigeria, but the global economy, arising largely from the external shocks that hit, particularly the commodity exporting countries.

“The shocks no doubt led to the plummeting of Nigeria’s reserves as crude oil price fail to a point where it dropped by February 2016 to as low as $28 per barrel. If you compare this price to the time when it averaged $100 per barrel for five straight years from 2009 to middle of 2014, you will all agree with me that we have gone through a lot.

“Another shock that hit Nigeria like other countries was the United States normalisation to the point that in the last quarter of 2016, about $40 billion left emerging and frontier markets back to US,” he explained.

According to Emefiele, geopolitical tensions also affected flow of funds, including Nigeria, which he said climaxed when the country recorded negative growth.

The country also saw inflation hitting it badly, adding that the monetary policy committee felt that at that level, something needed to be done. This, he said made the Central Bank to introduce some reforms.

“And I must say that in six months, we have seen about $10 billion in inflows into Nigeria as a result of the opening of that window (investors’ and exporters’ window). We feel so grateful to them (foreign investors) for showing the confidence in Nigeria again,” the CBN governor added.

He stated further: “Our climate is good, let us fold our sleeves and begin to feed ourselves again, and save our reserves for some of those items that we cannot produce as a country. And that has led to where we are today. We are delighted we put forex restriction on 41 items. 

“We were castigated and I was reading in the Economist magazine that what we did was to just move around the home and pick items including toothpicks. I think it is important to know what we are doing. If you go to China where they are producing the toothpicks, those things can be produced in a place that is less than a quarter of a room. Bamboo is what is used in producing toothpicks. And there is a company in Nigeria today producing toothpicks, creating jobs for our people.  

“That is what is found in the spirit of Nigerians. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a toothpick that is being produced by a Nigerian. That toothpick is stronger than the one that is being imported from China. But I think as far as we are concerned, it is about creating jobs for our people. Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava. We were importing starch and glucose. “

Continuing, he said: “Nigerian companies that could produce starch and glucose would go to companies that needed starch and glucose and all the companies were telling them was our stock levels are high. They said they would visit them when their stock levels go low. But unfortunately, their stock level did not go low until we imposed the FX restriction on these items.

“Today, companies that require starch and glucose for their pharmaceuticals and formulations patronise Nigerians. This has created jobs for us. That is the spirit of Nigerians. This is part of the reasons the President said we needed to patronise Made-in-Nigeria and I am happy that we are doing this. But I think it is also important that we thank everybody, particularly Nigerians. 

“Yes, we have just managed to exit the recession with a fragile growth of 0.5 per cent; we have seen inflation trending downwards, we have seen exchange rate and reserves looking stronger and firmer. But I think we are determined to continue to push further to see to it that Nigeria returns to its historical growth path. 0.5 per cent or two per cent is not the historical growth path for Nigeria.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer, Forbes Business Solution, Mike Furlong

commended Emefiele for this contribution to the Nigerian economy.

Also, the President/CEO, Florizelle Liser, CCA commended Emefiele for the award, saying members of the council were delighted with his efforts at the CBN.

“Many members of the CCA represent some of the largest companies and some of the SMEs as well as African companies. We have as many as 19 companies that are members of the CCA and all of our members are really pleased that you have led the effort in economic recovery in Nigeria. We see that things are turning around now and we just want to let you know that those efforts are noted by the business community.

“We also are happy to see the work that is being done on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria and we believe they are going to pay off. Many of our members welcome it as an opportunity to see how they can trade more with Nigeria and invest more in Nigeria. So, we thank you for your efforts,” she said.