Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has restated Nigeria’s readiness to do business with the rest of the world.
Shettima gave the assurance on Tuesday when he received a delegation from the Advanced Energy Partners (AEP), on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that the ongoing reforms undertaken by President Bola Tinubu’s administration across different sectors was opening new opportunities for investments.
“There is no better time to invest in Nigeria than now. You have come at the right time when we have been blessed with committed leadership,” he said.
Shettima said that the Tinubu’s administration, through specific policies and interventions, was creating the enabling environment for the economy to grow and attract foreign direct investments.
“Be rest assured that you have invested your trust in the right nation. Nigeria is ready for business. We have crossed the Rubicon and are now on the path of sustainable development,” he told the delegation.
Earlier, the Chairman of the consortium, Sen. Abu Ibrahim, said the team was on ground in Nigeria to, among other things, explore major opportunities for investment in the upstream oil industry and sectors of the economy.
Also, the Vice President of China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO), Mr QIANG Wenyu, said the visit was in furtherance of an earlier meeting with President Tinubu in September 2024 in Beijing.
Wenyu reiterated the company’s commitment to collaborating with Nigerian partners in key sectors of the nation’s economy.
He said the company was prepared to fulfill its earlier pledge to deepen cooperation and expand its operations in Nigeria, noting that “for the past one year, we have been acting on that.”
He listed NORINCO’s core areas of operations to include energy, oil and gas, defence, industries and mining, among others.
He noted that the company’s annual turnover grew last year to $30 billion, maintaining a strong reputation in its core fields of operations.
For her part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Horizon Energy, Abu Dhabi, Ms Mahra Al Suwaidi, applauded the leadership of President Tinubu, attributing the company’s renewed interest to invest in Nigeria to the country’s current leadership.
She added that the firm’s confidence in the current administration was reflected in the management of key institutions, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., (NNPCL), among others.
In the same vein, the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Al Shamsi, urged the consortium to waste no time in investing in Nigeria, describing the country as the “right place” for foreign investment.
He noted that the Tinubu’s administration was the “right government”, having strengthened Nigeria’s economic and bilateral ties with the UAE, leading to non-oil trade between both countries amounting to 4.3 billion dollars in 2024.
