By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Acting Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mr Emeka Offor said on Wednesday that GIZ – the German Corporation has made concerted efforts towards enhancing the capacity of the country to translate its investment potential into sustainable productive activities.
The NIPC boss stated this in his opening remarks at the two-day Peer Learning and Capacity Development Workshop on Strengthening Investment Promotion Framework at the National and Sub-national Level in Nigeria, held at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Abuja.
The workshop which was organised by the NIPC in partnership with Pro-poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria- SEDIN Program; Nigeria Competitiveness Project (NICOP), and implemented by GIZ, attracted participants from about twelve states across the country.
Mr Offor said, “at NIPC, we are particularly delighted at your commitment to building the capacity of national and sub-national IPAs for investment promotion and facilitation. This is germane as it helps to position the country for improved private investment inflow as well as enhance the capacity to support existing investments.
“This event, which is the 3rd in its series, coming after the Rwandan and South African editions, both of which were virtual, further reinforces your commitment to these ideals. This workshop is expected to provide a platform to share progress, learn from each other’s challenges and achievements, and more importantly, forge synergy that would strengthen the Nigerian Team’ for investment promotion and facilitation”.
Stressing the need for effective collaboration between NIPC and the sub-national IPAs, the Executive Secretary disclosed that the Federal Government has put in place the national investment framework which sets the climate for investments in the country.
“It is therefore important that the State IPAs are adequately apprised of NIPC’s activities and are equally equipped to complement the efforts of each other in order to improve the Nigerian investment environment.
“The ultimate goal of these engagements, therefore, is geared toward creating a healthy competition among the States for investments to promote national sustainable growth and development”, he added.
SEDIN, which is funded by the European Union (EU), is one of GIZ’s programme’s in Nigeria. It’s overall objective is to improve the employment and income situation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), employment and local economic development.
In 2021, SEDIN entered into partnership with NIPC to strengthen the investment framework in the country, as well as facilitate linkages and knowledge sharing on investment promotion strategies and innovations at the national and regional levels.
