The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has asserted that currently, Nigeria is the best, most natural destination for investment in the entire continent.
Osinbajo made this claim on Thursday while speaking during a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
He called on the Vietnamese leader to find ways of leveraging the cherished friendship with Nigeria to gain entry to the vast Nigerian and African markets, especially in the areas of agriculture, oil and gas, and telecommunications.
Both leaders had interacted in a friendly and warm encounter when Prof. Osinbajo visited the president as he wrapped up a three-day official visit to Vietnam.
The VP had in the first two days of his visit held talks with his counterpart, Madam Vo Thi Anh Xuan, and Prime Minister, Phum Minh Chính. He also met the Vietnamese business community under the auspices of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), visited the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the FTP University and its software firm, and also interacted with representatives of the Nigerian community in Vietnam.
On Tuesday while speaking at the VCCI, Prof. Osinbajo said Nigeria remains the most intuitive place to do business, observing that despite the economic slowdown in the aftermath of the pandemic, GDP growth has been positive for the last seven quarters and though it slowed to 2.3 per cent on a year-to-year basis in the third quarter of this year, it was a 9.7 per cent increase over the second quarter
‘Apart from being the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria also has the continent’s largest economy, accounting for over 20% of continental GDP. The Nigerian private sector has undertaken large path-breaking investments in the country in agriculture, manufacturing, petrochemicals, finance, telecommunications and the digital economy,’ he added.
In terms of market viability, Prof. Osinbajo noted that Nigeria continues to rank high, explaining how ‘our people are renowned for being energetic and tech-savvy, with over 60 percent of the population below 25 years of age.’
In the tech space, the VP said “between 2015 and last year, 6 Nigerian tech-based companies have been certified as unicorns. These are companies valued at over a billion US dollars each.
‘Nigeria is also now home to over 200 stand-alone FinTech companies, plus a number of FinTech solutions offered by banks and mobile network operators as part of their product portfolio. Between 2014 and 2019, Nigeria’s bustling FinTech segment raised over $600 million in funding and attracted a quarter of the almost $500 million raised by African tech startups in 2019 alone.’
He stated further that “the creative sector which employs over 4 million people and has the potential to add 2.7 million by 2025, is ranked the second largest employer of labour after the agricultural sector.