Dr. Adamu Abdulhamid, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), has sought collaboration with the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, to establish more international free zones for investment. During a courtesy visit to NEPA’s Managing Director, Prof Adesoji Adesugba, in Abuja, Abdulhamid stated that if international free zones are established, foreign direct investment, or FDI, into Nigeria will increase.
He also congratulated NEPZA’s MD on his accomplishments thus far, while reiterating partnership plans to establish coordinating investment centers in Europe and other countries that lacked coordinating investment centers.
“The purpose of my courtesy call to you is actually to seek collaboration with the agency under your leadership so that we can deliver on the mandate given to me as Nigeria ambassador to the World Trade Organization,” he said. When we said we wanted your help, you might be surprised because most people think Geneva officials only meet and negotiate on traditions.
However, during my tenure, the scope of responsibilities was broadened. We’ve noticed that there isn’t a coordinating center for investment in Europe. All they do is request that some debt officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs be sent to Nigerian missions. I believe what we saw was not so much because of anything.
“So, fortunately, Mr. President has approved that expansion, and we are working to ensure that we have a framework within which we can work with all of the European countries to see how we can mobilize more, even though we know they have invested in the country, but we need to mobilize more of them coming into the country to invest, particularly at our resort.”
One of my colleagues in the mission will be liaising with, so that if there is anything we can do, we will have direct access, because long bureaucracy can sometimes delay achieving some objectives. So, of course, we know that whenever we write to the country, we usually write to the Federal Ministry of Industry and Investment, which is the Federal Ministry of Industry and Investment.
And, of course, we can achieve our goal without delay. So that’s why I came to the country and met with some ministers and CEOs in order to establish this collaboration with the approval of higher authorities. So far, I can see that it is producing results. So, we must continue to collaborate and ensure that we assist our country in achieving the desired global goal.
As a Nigerian ambassador to the World Trade Organization, I represent Nigeria. Not only does it affect some activities within the World Trade Organization, but it also affects the International Trade Centre, which has a number of packages aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. And they have a lot of technical support.
On his part, Adesugba expressed excitement about the new task ahead, stating that it was an extension of his mandate that is in line with his passion and duty, which are: continuous promotion of Nigeria; developing strategies to improve the economic climate and investment climate.
He went on to say that he would work hard to ensure that Nigeria is regarded as one of the most attractive investment destinations in Africa. “For most of us, this should be the way we look at things through the lens of Nigeria’s continuous proportion, developing strategies to improve the economic climate, investment climate, and making Nigeria the preferred destination for investment in this part of the world,” he said.
“WTO and what you do are very important, and I have always wondered, like you, that leaving investment promotion in the hands of untrained people can sometimes be counterproductive because when you don’t view the prospective investor as other countries do, you lose the competitive edge that you should have first meetings, prospecting, and all that you won’t understand.”
But when it comes to professionals, we’ve always pleaded with our bosses to understand that we need professionals in the countries and climates where we should be prospective, where we should be promoting the country. As a professional in this field, I had advocated for the creation of investment promotion agencies, or IPAs, in countries other than the United States.
