The Nigerian government says serious investors can now take advantage the country’s growing investment climate to tap from the limitless opportunities in the country and the African continent.
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Vice President Kashim Shettima made the call on Tuesday during a forum titled, “Roadmap to Co-create Investment Opportunities for Africa’s Frontier Markets,” at the ongoing 2025 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
At the session, which was co-chaired by Mirek Dusek, Managing Director of World Economic Forum, and chaired by Marie-Laure Olugbade, Senior Vice President, African Development Bank (AFDB) group, discussions focused on the Humanitarian and Resilience Investing Roadmap for Africa.
VP Shettima told the forum that the tales they hear about the country and the African continent as a whole are really not that of doom and gloom as being painted by doomsday proponents.
He noted that Nigeria is poised to invade the global business platform with modernisation and robust investments, assuring that President Bola Tinubu, a seasoned chartered accountant, is working to make the nation an investment destination in Africa.
“For 20 years, I have been in the Nigerian banking industry. I was a general manager in Nigeria’s largest bank, Zenith Bank. I grew up in that ecosystem. The President himself is a seasoned chartered accountant. So, I believe that Nigeria is ready for business, Nigeria is ready to embrace the path of modernization with very robust investment,” he declared.
Challenges
Acknowledging however that the nation may still have certain deficits, VP Shettima pointed out that Nigeria is looking up to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to address the challenges.
He stated, “We are having a huge deficit, but we are looking forward to the AfCFTA, and that involves investing in infrastructure. For instance, the coastal highway from Calabar to Lagos is the largest single investment in Africa. We are building corridors to the North.
“We have the West African gas pipeline. We are thinking ahead of time akin to the Belt and Road Initiative. We are partnering with 14 African countries to invest in gas infrastructure down to Morocco.”
The Vice President insisted that Africa is not all about tales of doom and gloom, maintaining that the continent has woken up from its slumber.
“I remember what Napoleon Bonaparte said about China, he said “China is a sleeping giant but when she wakes up, she will rattle the world”. So, Africa has woken up and we will take our rightful place in the comity of nations because as I said earlier, the trajectory of global growth is facing Africa. We are the youngest continent,” the Vice President stated.
Also drawing a leaf from the late Nigerian head of state, Gen. Murtala Mohammed, VP Shettima said Africa has come of age and can no longer be treated like an adolescent.
“I want to quote Murtala Mohammed – a Nigerian military leader at an extraordinary summit of the OAU, about 50 years ago. He said “Africa has come of age, it is no longer under the orbit of any extra-continental power, and it shall no longer take orders from any country, however powerful,” he concluded.
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