Economy

Fix Bureaucracy to Attract More Investors—Elumelu Tasks FG

Published

9 years ago

12/07/2017

Dipo Olowookere

**Proposes ‘shared purpose’ to create economic, social wealth for citizens

By Dipo Olowookere

Federal Government has been charged to, as a matter of urgency, fix the bureaucracy in its parastatals, which frustrates the ease of doing business in Nigeria, so as to promote, attract and retain investors willing to do genuine business in the country.

This charge was made by Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu, during an event held in Abuja on Monday.

Mr Elumelu, who delivered a speech on ‘Nigeria Open for Business’ at the 2017 National Insurance Conference organised by the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC), pointed out that bureaucracy was a major challenge that needed to be tackled with a sense of urgency to curb excessive losses.

At the forum which took place at the Transcorp Hilton, the former banker cited a personal example, when the delays in the public sector led to a negative return on investment that forced his proprietary investment company, Heirs Holdings, to suspend the pursuit of its insurance license despite meeting the eligibility requirement and capitalisation benchmark.

“This bureaucracy is a cause for concern and if not tackled, will discourage otherwise willing investors from within and outside the country,” he said.

“Heirs Insurance Limited is an example where despite focused attempts to finalise a licence, the delay in processing has cost our company significantly in terms of resources and return on investment,” he added.

Though the business mogul applauded the present administration for its efforts so far in stabilising the Nigerian economy, he said much more still needed to be done to transform Nigeria into a country capable of attracting the right investments.

Mr Elumelu proposed that Nigeria’s transformation can only be achieved when the government and private sector work together in “shared purpose,” to create the economic and social wealth for the people.

He defined shared purpose as an alignment and commitment to 3Es – employment, empowerment and economic opportunity, where the government partners with the private sector to, not only design a business climate that creates job opportunities for the youths as in the case of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, but prioritises small and medium businesses.

Mr Elumelu ended his speech by calling on the government to define policies that ease the process of doing business in Nigeria.

“Predictability and consistency of policies must be embraced by our policy makers. We need the public sector to be willing partners in establishing the right, investment-worthy business environment we need in Nigeria. This is the only way Nigeria can be truly open for business,” he concluded.

In response to the speech, representative of the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Joseph Nnanna, commended Mr Elumelu on the points raised, stating that the sector would proactively address the issues raised.

Other guests present at the event included the Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Mohammed Kari, and Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (MITI).

Economy

Senate Pushes for Ban on Textile Imports

Published

41 seconds ago

10/06/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

To revive the local industry and create jobs to boost the economy, the Senate has advised the federal government to ban textile imports.

The upper chamber of the federal parliament made this suggestion on Tuesday at the plenary presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Mr Jibrin Barau.

They noted that to resuscitate textile industries in the country, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture should immediately implement investment-friendly policies.

The red chamber of the National Assembly recalled when Nigeria used to have a vibrant textile industry, but lamented that the influx of foreign fabrics destroyed the sector.

The Senate emphasised that to stimulate economic growth and tackle insecurity in the country, there must be a total ban on the importation of textile materials into Nigeria.

“With the lifting of the ban on textile importation in 2010, Nigeria now has almost 80 per cent of its textiles imported from China, Indonesia, Taiwan and other countries.

“This trend is definitely not helping the Nigerian economy in terms of employment generation and the conservation of foreign exchange,” Mr Katung Marshall, who co-sponsored a motion on the Urgent Need to Revive the Textile Industries in Nigeria, said on the floor of the Senate yesterday.

The Senator informed his colleagues that the government protection policies in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the restrictions on textile imports, attracted investors and helped the sector to flourish.

According to him, during the period, Nigeria’s textile industry accommodated about 167 mills and directly employed over 500,000 people, making it the nation’s second-largest employer after the federal government.

But he said this went south in the late 1990s due to obsolete machinery, inadequate capital and persistent power supply challenges, adding that by 2007, major companies, including Kaduna Textile Limited, Arewa Textiles and United Nigerian Textiles Limited, had shut down operations, leading to the loss of over 7,000 jobs.

Economy

FrieslandCampina, Nitrox, Others Further Weaken NASD Index by 0.48%

Published

2 hours ago

10/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Six securities led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc further weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.48 per cent on Tuesday, June 9.

The notable dairy firm lost N7.87 during the trading day to close at N173.81 per unit compared with the previous session’s N181.68 per unit, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc depreciated by N2.42 to N21.88 per share from N24.30 per share, Afriland Properties Plc dipped by N1.25 to N15.55 per unit from N16.80 per unit, Food Concepts Plc stumbled by 27 Kobo to N2.48 per share from N2.75 per share, UBN Property Plc dropped 9 Kobo to settle at N2.11 per unit versus N2.20 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc crashed by 4 Kobo to 50 Kobo per share from 54 Kobo per share.

As a result of these losses, the market capitalisation went down by N12.50 billion to N2.593 trillion from N2.606 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 20.89 points to 4,335.31 points from 4,356.20 points.

Business Post reports that there was a price gainer yesterday, and this was Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which improved its value by N2.65 to N81.13 per unit from N78.48 per unit.

The volume of transactions soared on Tuesday by 644.3 per cent to 1.6 million units from 213,188 units, the value of trades increased by 208.6 per cent to N62.3 million from N20.2 million, and the number of deals surged by 64 per cent to 41 deals from 25 deals.

The most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis remained Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 65.1 million units sold for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.

Economy

Naira Appreciates to N1,360.55/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

10/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was exchanged at N1,360.55/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, June 9, compared with the N1,362.84/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier, indicating an appreciation of N2.29 or 0.17 per cent against the United States Dollar.

It also gained 74 Kobo against the Euro in the same market segment to quote at N1,573.61/€1, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N1,574.35/€1, but lost N1.71 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,823.00/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,821.29/£1.

At the black market window, the Nigerian currency maintained stability against the greenback during the session at N1,380/$1, and also traded flat at the GTBank FX counter at N1,373/$1.

Market analysts say the ongoing implementation of the fourth edition of the Foreign Exchange Manual by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) since June 1 has strengthened the Naira and the country’s foreign reserves, bolstering confidence in the market.

The new manual is expected to deepen FX transparency, improve liquidity and strengthen market confidence and liquidity, as it aligns with the apex bank’s broader vision of ensuring that businesses and individuals have equal access to FX in a transparent and liquid market.

The gross external reserves have climbed to a record $50.04 billion, reinforcing investor confidence and boosting the CBN’s capacity to support the local currency.

As for the cryptocurrency market, expectations for higher interest rates sapped demand for non-yielding assets. The latest crypto pullback appears driven by a short squeeze rather than fresh buying, as more than $500 million in bearish bets were liquidated and spot demand.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.5 per cent to $0.1603, Ripple (XRP) declined by 5.2 per cent to $1.11, Solana (SOL) fell by 4.6 per cent to $64.05, Ethereum (ETH) tumbled by 3.5 per cent to $1,626.51, Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 3.6 per cent to $0.0835, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 3.2 per cent to trade at $61,292.98, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.9 per cent to $585.26, and TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.9 per cent to $0.3220, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $0.9997 and $0.9998, respectively.