The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NIPC

  • ‘Local investments rising’

    ‘Local investments rising’

    The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Mrs Saratu Umar, has said the economy has continued to witness influx of investors, saying this is in spite of the various security challenges.

    She said the nation had recorded high Local Direct Investment (LDI.

    “LDI has done immensely well. We have the Dangote Group, Elumelu Group of Companies, the Ovia Group, among others, which all have robust investments cutting across all sectors,’’ she said.

    Mrs Umar said the government is committed to attracting investment to the non-oil sectors of the economy.

    She said the commission has undertaken investment facilitation services and supports incoming and existing investors through its doing business and after care committees.

  • SMEDAN partners NIPC on investment drive

    SMEDAN partners NIPC on investment drive

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has solicited the assistance of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to promote the potentials of National Enterprises Development Programme (NEDEP) to the outside world. The Director-General of SMEDAN, Alhaji Bature Umar Masari, made this request in Abuja during a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of NIPC, Engr. Mustapha Bello.

    Bature said that NEDEP, a programme initiated by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to tackle unemployment, particularly among young people through technical and vocational training, is aimed at generating an estimated five million direct and indirect jobs.  He said NEDEP is primarily a technical and vocational skills acquisition programme, but designed to attract resources to empower it’s trainees after graduation.

    “The programme is executed through a combination of complementary strategies comprising formal and informal skills acquisition processes. According to him, the programme would cover all the states of the federation and Abuja with a view to conducting a survey of every product being produced in each local government. He said the Agency had commenced the implementation of this programme by conducting product identification in every local government areas with a view to ensuring that government promotes the production of such value chain line of products.

    The programme, he said would be funded by Bank of Industry (BOI) and National Economic Reconstruction Fund ((NERFUND).

    The Director-General also intimated Engr. Bello of the SMEDAN’s willingness to be part on NIPC’s One Stop Investment Centre (OSIC).

  • NIPC seeks review of trade agreements

    The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has urged the National Assembly to ratify all bilateral agreements that Nigeria has entered with other countries.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mustafa Bello, told The Nation that there are over 40 agreements that were yet to be ratified by the National Assembly. He said without their ratification, Nigeria would continue to lose the benefits accruable from such pacts.

    He urged the lawmakers to promote the economic and political development of the country, adding that they should work with the Federal Government to bring about job creation programmes for the unemployed youths.

    He said the financial sector reform has led to a steady economic growth over the years because of the institutionalisation of investment friendly policies that have impacted positively on the economy.

  • NIPC seeks review of trade agreements

    The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has urged the National Assembly to ratify all bilateral agreements that Nigeria has entered with other countries.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mustafa Bello, told The Nation that there are over 40 agreements that were yet to be ratified by the National Assembly. He said without their ratification, Nigeria would continue to lose the benefits accruable from such pacts.

    He urged the lawmakers to promote the economic and political development of the country, adding that they should work with the Federal Government to bring about job creation programmes for the unemployed youths.

    He said the financial sector reform has led to a steady economic growth over the years because of the institutionalisation of investment friendly policies that have impacted positively on the economy.

    Bello said Nigeria, which had a three per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1999, had its GDP growth advancing to 10.4 per cent by 2003, saying this has stabilised at seven per cent in the last seven years, with a target of double digit growth by 2015.

    The NIPC boss said various reform programmes initiated by the Federal Government to turn the economy around, including the on-going transformation agenda have positioned the country as an investment destination in Africa.

    He called on foreign investors to disregard the negative reports about Nigeria, saying that the country is standing on a better platform than it was being portrayed.

    He assured that the security and infrastructural challenges facing the country will soon be a thing of the past, disclosing that the Federal Government has put various measures in place to overcome them.

    “Nigeria is not as bad as it is being portrayed by some foreigners, and some other negative reports orchestrated in the international media. Nigeria does have challenges like other developed countries, but this is not insurmountable. We shall soon overcome them,” he said.

     

  • Alleged oil fraud: NIPC deputy director on suspension

    Alleged oil fraud: NIPC deputy director on suspension

    The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) said it has suspended a Deputy Director, Mr. Vincent Usiahon, for his alleged oil fraud.

    The commission said he has been under interdiction to allow the law to take its course since he was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Usiahon is facing a 29-count charge of intent to defraud and obtaining about N15.8 million under false pretences from the complainant, Mr. Sonny Atumah.

    He allegedly collected the monies in installments over 16 months by deceiving Atumah, his friend of over 25 years’ that he would invest them in oil allocation business.

    The alleged offence is contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.

    A statement by the NIPC Head, Media and Publicity, Mr. Joel Attah, said the clarification became necessary due to zero tolerance of the agency for corruption and to prove its Chief Executive Officer had no link to the allegations.

    “The alleged fraud was committed outside the activities of the commission and no other member of staff is an accomplice. The commission therefore wishes to distant itself from the criminal activities of the said staff and had placed the staff on suspension since June 2012, to allow the law to take its course”.

  • ‘Only staff security in Jos will reverse relocation decision’

    ‘Only staff security in Jos will reverse relocation decision’

    Security concerns in Plateau State have forced the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) into a decision to relocate its North Central Zonal headquarters from Jos, the state capital.

    The decision has not been implemented, but the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr Mustafa Bello, said they will move elsewhere if security challenges persist, putting their staff in danger.

    Bello said this when a delegation from the state led by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Abraham Yiljap, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.

    He urged the state government to put in place necessary measures that will guarantee the safety of its workers and property before the Commission could think of rescinding the relocation decision.

    Bello also called on the government to address other issues bordering on the investment climate in the state.

    According to him, the commission would continue to monitor the situation in the state to ascertain its readiness to maintain its status as the NIPC North Central Zonal headquarters.

    He said: “The safety of our staff is of the utmost importance to us and it is only when their safety is guaranteed that we will be able to achieve our goal of driving investments in the zone through the zonal office.”

    “So, we took the decision to safeguard the lives of our staff and our property in the state and we also considered other salient issues, which are necessary in promoting investment in a place. We did not say that we are moving the office out immediately.”

    “We have only considered the option and have taken a stand on it. We will continue to monitor the situation in the state and if things change for the better, we will rescind our decision, otherwise the decision of relocating the office will stand,” he stated

    He also pointed out that insecurity was not the only factor considered for the relocation of the zonal offices from Jos but that other economic factors, which were initially ignored in the establishment of the zonal offices, were also considered.

    Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Yiljap, said that the current political administration in Plateau had done much to restore peace in the state.

    He said the government was worried by NIPC’s decision to relocate, adding that such relocation would negatively affect the government’s effort to restore peace in the state.

    ”I want to state here that Plateau state is safe for business and it is safe for investment. The people of the state are working harder today to put their relationship together and move forward for the growth of the state. So, you can be assured that Plateau is once again safe for business,” he added