JP Morgan To FG: Policy Inconsistencies Driving Away FDIs

Chairman and chief executive officer of JPMChase Co, Jamie Dimon has told the Nigerian government that policy and regulatory inconsistencies will always drive away investment capital, especially foreign direct investments (FDIs) needed to grow the nation’s ailing economy.

“Capital goes to where it’s taken care of,” Dimon said on Wednesday, adding that people and companies only put their money where they can make some money and have a return on capital in the long run. “You know, if they have very inconsistent policies, they don’t want to go there. And the real capital is going to come from companies.”

Speaking during a special session tagged ‘Fireside Chat,’ on the sidelines of the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the chairman of JPMChase said Nigeria and Africa can also attract capital through successful projects. “And, you know, roads, bridges, ports, tunnels, mines, that’s what’s going to bring in capital,” he said, adding that having a borrower’s club that’s going to negotiate. “I think we could do a much better job literally bringing more capital into Africa.

He told the gathering at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton that many companies are interested in investing in Nigeria but are waiting to see how the country deals with policy, legislative, and regulatory inconsistencies before taking action.

“They want to come here for an investment opportunity. So to do that, consistent laws, consistent regulations, consistent required rules, consistent legislation, consistent legal environments, you will get plenty of capital here, but it’s got to be consistent, because a lot of countries in the legal environment flip back and forth, and the government flips back and forth. People are just afraid to make those investments,” Dimon stated at one of the plenary sessions.

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Asked when JPMorgan would set up an operation bank in Nigeria, Dimon said the company would consider the possibility of citing an office in the country as part of expansion to Africa, which he said would have been done before except for the push back from some quarters.

“Nigeria, maybe on some of the things by the time I leave here, but I am thrilled to be here. I had wanted to expand in Africa 10 years ago. You may not know this, but my own government stopped me. You know, they were after the crisis, and they said banks are risky, and they didn’t want it to take any risk. You know, by now we’ve probably had six or seven additional countries,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima said the summit that ended yesterday was successful because the plenary and concurrent sessions addressed the key issues that will guide the government’s economic growth and development.   He is confident that the summit report will articulate the critical issues exhaustively discussed in the various sessions

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 3-day summit, Senator Shettima urged the leadership of the states, private sector, CSOs, and development partners to join hands with the federal government to actualise the inclusive future we envisage and a Nigeria that works for all.

“While we await the Green Book recommendations, I assure all participants, including business community members, that we shall align such recommendations with Government priorities for implementation,” Shettima stated.

CEO of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Tayo Aduloju said the summit which ended yesterday was a huge success with many recommendations on part ways to economic transformation for Nigeria and the entire African continent.

He said the NESG will use the next one year, before the next summit, to keep the government at all levels on their toes on implementation of the various commitments and recommendations from participants at the summit.