Director General, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Mr. Asishana Okauru has commended the “Book of States” initiative of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
Okauru expressed the NGF’s interest in working with NIPC to unlock the investment prospects of moribund State-owned companies.
The NIPC has said it will in this month of August, publish on its website, the “Book of States”, which profiles the competitive advantages and key investment prospects of each State in Nigeria.
NIPC’s Executive Secretary/CEO, Ms Yewande Sadiku disclosed this on Friday in a closed webinar on `Supporting Sub-National Investment Promotion’, which was organised exclusively for State Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs).
She revealed insights from NIPC’s recently updated digital database of State IPAs, encouraging them to leverage on NIPC’s resources including the One Stop Investment Centre (OSIC), the OSIC Lab and the Single Window Investors’ Portal (SWIP).
The OSIC Lab is an intervention mechanism for investors to resolve issues with government agencies either at the state or federal level; SWIP is a platform that would enable NIPC leverage information and communication technology to better manage relationships with investors and process applications.
“State IPAs can also benefit from NIPC’s work on the reform of Nigeria’s investment treaty regime and its expertise in the negotiation of investment agreements”, she said.
NIPC works closely with various government agencies to support the promotion of investment prospects in the states.
Also at the Webinar, the Managing Director, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Prof. Adesoji Adesugba spoke on attracting investments into Special Economic Zones.
The Webinar was attended by representatives of 30 state IPAs, who pledged to work with NIPC to promote the opportunities in their States. They also sought greater collaboration for capacity development and promotion of increased domestic direct investments. In all, 88 participants joined the webinar.
