To achieve the sustainability of local content in Nigeria, there is the need to focus more on domestic direct investment (DDI) than on foreign direct investment (FDI), Managing Director of Coleman Wires and Cables, Mr. George Onafowokan, has said.
Onafowokan, who was among the panelists during the just-concluded Nigeria International Energy summit organised by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in Abuja, said there was the need for Nigerians to see the growth of the country based on themselves before anybody else.
“We need to be more deliberate as Nigerians and need to see the growth of this country based on ourselves before anybody else. We always say FDI and we seem to forget Domestic Direct Investment (DDI).
“It is good we have FDI, but how many of them are thinking of the second generation? I think it is very hard to find. When you are talking about DDI in local content, you are talking about sustainability, because at this point, the investment is long-term, and the investors are more patient and have long-term thinking”, he said.
The Coleman CEO stressed that local content has made some of them look into the future. “The impact of local content indirectly makes an impact on other sectors. So, in a company like ours or our industry, we are going to be impacting all sectors like energy, power, life growth as well as sustainability in other areas, he stated.
Onafowokan added that Coleman Wires and Cables is talking about transmission issues and how to solve the problems.
In a related development, Coleman Wires and Cables emerged as the best ‘Local Content Company’ of the year at Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) held in Abuja.
Onafowokan while speaking on the significance of the award, said: “This speaks on our impact and what we have been doing and our investment as regards local content”.
According to him, “this is an award for Nigerians and West Africans that have built capacity in cables, and that made Coleman stand out as a company.