- ‘With S’Court verdict, no more distractions’
- President hosts German Chancellor
Far-reaching economic reforms being undertaken by the Federal Government will provide the enabling environment for a return on investment, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assured foreign investors yesterday.
The President promised to remove obstacles to fast-track investment and development.
He spoke at an interaction session with the media, with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz present.
Scholz is in Nigeria on the first leg of an African tour. He was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesome Wike.
The President met the Chancellor in the Forecourt of Aso Villa.
The two leaders had three layers of meetings, and later briefed reporters.
After a brief visit to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) secretariat, the visiting leader and his delegation were hosted to a banquet at Aso Villa.
Today, he is billed to lead the German business delegation to a meeting in Lagos with Nigeria’s top businessmen and investors.
He is expected to depart for Ghana from Lagos.
Explaining the importance of the meeting between leaders of Europe’s and Africa’s largest economies, President Tinubu, who described Chancellor Scholz as his friend, said: “We are reforming our economic and business environment to promote efficiency.
“You might have read or been aware that we have removed oil subsidy.
“We’re going through tax reforms to eliminate double taxation and give you better returns on investments and there are principles that will ensure your investments grow well and are protected.
“We definitely welcome you to the collaboration; we’re happy this is happening to us. I believe that my friend will add more to the value of Nigeria’s environment.
“We have discussed that; I’ve made a commitment to you that we’ll promote efficiency and ease of doing business and remove all conflict areas that might be possible immediately”.
The President also alluded to the slow pace of economic growth, promising that his Administration is determined to change the narrative.
During the bilateral political discussion, President Tinubu called for improved cooperation in security, natural resources, education, and democracy, among others, with the government of Germany.
The President said: “Our economic team and members of the group are all here ready to partner with you, with Germany as the largest economy in Europe.
“The largest economy in Africa is Nigeria, you know that. We are blessed with a good environment, weather and mineral resources.
“Our hydrocarbon industry is still fledging environmentally while we are moving towards the transition of energy source.
“I know Germany has advanced a lot in protecting the environment and modernising energy to meet the 21st century needs, both of the world and Europe in particular.
“Nigeria is still crawling, but we are determined to change the narrative and bring about a transformative government.
“You are very welcome with your delegation to partner with us in terms of education, power, mineral resources and all the other opportunities. We have a long way to bring about the security of our people.”
He alluded to the readiness of his administration to take the development of the nation to the next level, especially as the issues that could have been distracting his focus had been resolved by the Supreme Court verdict which affirmed his victory.
“It is a profound pleasure for me to welcome my friend Olaf Scholz to Nigeria. It is a joy to see you here at this particular period of time.
“It is just about a few days ago that the Supreme Court had a final say on our electoral exercise.
“The distraction is over. This gives us more time to focus on governance for the people and moving Nigeria forward for economic opportunities and prosperity that will defend democracy.
“In our last tete-a-tete, you made a promise that you will be visiting Nigeria. Thank you and your delegation for keeping that promise. It is an honour for me to see you here.
“Nigeria has gone through a lot of reforms, yet we cannot be 100 per cent sure everything goes smoothly.
“Some of you might not be here while we were discussing the rule of law, I know…for businesses, particularly investors, because I’ve been in that environment before, I am from that constituency.
“I was once a Treasurer of ExxonMobil in Nigeria, so I can understand the pain and delays of investment.
“I can understand the pain and delays of conflict in any business partnership and you cannot remove conflicts from the process, but you can minimise it. But how well the investor’s investment is protected is very important.
“Investment is cowardly; it doesn’t like delays and conflicts; it will run away. We understand that.
“Equally, time management to promote efficiency and smooth operation under the rule of law is crucially important, the President said.
Responding to a question on the Federal Government’s alleged refusal to readmit over 12,000 Nigerians who were unable to meet Germany’s asylum requirement and are at risk of deportation, the President said such persons are welcome to return home.
He explained that both countries were working to regularise the stay of those who are economic refugees, according to the immigration laws of the countries.
President Tinubu said: “We had a very deep discussion on this and you have to separate the economic refugees from real refugees.
“We have a programme to work in partnership to really ensure normal migration and deepen the relationship in that area.
“I’m not making any demands. If they are Nigerian citizens, they are Nigerian citizens, and they are welcome back home. Nothing should send them away.
“We are ready to enter into a partnership to improve the migration situation since other young and vibrant people can go through the process according to the immigration laws of the country as long as they are of good behaviour and good character. We are ready to work together in that direction.”
Also responding to the migration question, Scholz said the debate is on and very soon the grey areas will be fixed.
“The first is yes, there is a need in Germany for people that have talent and that want to work in our country in a way which is a regular path for migrants.
“We are working intensely in this field and we want to make more progress and get things agreed in detail.
“The second is that part of this is also an agreement that those who do not have the right to stay in my country can go back and should go back and this is part of something that is a win-win story for the two countries and in this sense, we had a debate and I think we will fix it very soon,” he said.
Scholz, who spoke German and English during the bilateral discussions and the news conference, said: “We are all committed to democracy and the rule of law. And it is important for us to make this a lifestyle for countries.
“It is good for a better future for our people. And so I’m very happy that we can work on this discussion; even on the question of how we can continue to support you in doing the best and having these insecurity questions in your country as well.
“We will go into the details later, but I can assure you that we will continue our support and our cooperation in this field.
“One of the main aspects of cooperation will be developing the economy and using the economic opportunities of your country.
“As you already said, there are a lot of chances not just from gas and oil, which are traditionally linked to your country, but there’s a lot of room for improvement and for better using the capacities of your country.
“But also for going into investments for the future, which is about hydrogen and all the things that are important for an economy that is able to produce all the necessary goods for the people without harming the environment.”
“But this is something where cooperation is also important and we will do so and it will be an important aspect of our work together.”
The German Chancellor regretted that minerals are just about extraction as they end up in other countries rather than for Nigeria’s development.
“It is also important that we use the way of developing your economy in the fields of the minerals you have. I think that the investments into this structure must be easy, but also benefitting for your country.
“It is something that bothered me a lot in the past that sometimes it was just about extraction, which is not enough.
“There should be one bit more for making it feasible that some parts of the economic development can be used in the countries of origin.
“This is not the case today in our world, but if we change this a little bit, it will change a lot and working in this field is also important for us. We see that a lot of investments have to be taken looking at infrastructure and it’s not just about roads and railway but also about electricity, the infrastructure, and the grid, ensuring that all the produced energy or the power go to the people.”
