World Bank says Nigeria has the “Most Attractive” Investment Environment in Africa – Do You Agree?

The World Bank has described Nigeria’s investment environment as the “most attractive” despite the current infrastructure challenge facing it.

Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, Country Director, World Bank, Nigeria made this assertion yesterday at the launch of the World Bank’s Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) report in Abuja.

She, however, said there was need for the country to improve its business environment in order to maximise the hugely untapped investment opportunities that exist across the country.

“Nigeria has the most attractive environment for investment because Nigeria is a large market in the continent; it is the second largest economy in the continent. It is a market that any investor cannot ignore with over 160 million people and a gateway to ECOWAS. For me, while we say the country’s current investment climate could be better in terms of providing electricity, access to finance and other things, you should also look at the huge opportunities for investment in Nigeria,” Businessday reports.

She noted some constraints which impede development such as electricity but stated however that labour costs in Nigeria is lower than most of Nigeria’s competitors.

“The basic lesson from the World Bank Assessment Report titled, ‘Nigeria, an Assessment of the Investment Climate in 26 States’, is that there are critical constraints in Nigeria that impede the development of the non-oil sector. Some of the critical issues include electricity, which affects the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises. However, the labour cost in Nigeria is actually lower than most of Nigeria’s competitors such as Brazil and South Africa. So, there is need for Nigeria to address some of the constraints in order to take advantage of the huge investment opportunities that exist in the country.”

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Investing in Nigeria has been described by many, both small and large business owners, as a tough task considering various factors like epileptic power supply, poor infrastructure, unstable political climate and more. However, it is undeniable that several opportunities abound in Nigeria.

What do you think about the point made by the World Bank’s Country Director? Do you agree that Nigeria has the most attractive investment environment in Africa?

Are you investing in Nigeria? How do you feel about the investment environment in Nigeria when compared with other countries?

Please share your thoughts.

Photo Credit: Reuters