Obi also said Nigeria must provide an enabling environment to attract FDI to the country
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former governor of Anambra State and the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi has tackled President Bola Tinubu over his frequent foreign trips and recent claims about Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)
On Sunday in an interview with Nation Newspaper after receiving the Man-of-the-Year award from the news medium, Tinubu said the country is engaging with the global market both foreign and domestic investors.
He stressed that FDI is not ‘Chicken Change’ but a long-term financial commitment from serious enterprises and investors.
He said: “FDI is not ‘chicken change’. FDI is substantial, long-term financial commitments made by serious enterprises and investors. Right now, Nigeria is re-engaging with the global market – both foreign and domestic investors.
“We are telling the story of our significant and far-reaching reforms and rebuilding confidence in Nigeria as an accessible and safe investment.
“We are clearly communicating that ‘Nigeria is open for business’ and that the direction of travel is clear and fully committed”
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Tinubu went on to say that his administration’s efforts to woo foreign direct investors to the country were yielding fruit.
“We’ve secured a $500 million deal with Germany to fund renewable energy projects, particularly in rural Nigeria.”
He added, “Our focused efforts to attract European FDI are yielding fruit, notably with the $116 million French investment in the I-DICE program, aimed at creating 65,000 start-ups and 150,000 jobs, particularly empowering women.”
However, speaking during an X-space, tagged ‘ParrellelFact’ on Sunday, Obi noted that foreign investors should not be chased around the globe for investment.
He went on to say Nigeria must provide an enabling environment to attract FDI to the country.
Obi said: “Nobody goes around searching for foreign investors. Foreign investors are like bees; when you keep the honey, they will boom towards there. We need to attract foreign investors and not chase after them.”