The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) is teaming up with State Investment Promotion Agencies (SIPAs) to bolster investment inflows into Nigeria’s economy.
This strategic alliance was underscored by Aisha Rimi, the executive secretary of NIPC, during a stakeholder engagement event held yesterday at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja. Representatives from SIPAs across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory were in attendance.
The main objective of this collaboration was to establish improved coordination and monitoring mechanisms to enhance the current level of investments in Nigeria.
Highlighting the significant impact of the lack of effective collaboration between the National IPA (NIPC) and sub-national IPAs on investment promotion activities, Rimi stressed the need for coordinated strategies at both national and sub-national levels.She said these strategies should focus on deepening the investment promotion drive and addressing challenges faced by investors.
To capitalise on opportunities within the investment ecosystem, she emphasised the importance of a well-coordinated ecosystem to avoid downstream problems for investors and ensure complementary roles between national and sub-national IPAs.
Rimi also noted that enhanced coordination would facilitate transparent information exchange among government agencies, optimising Nigeria’s value proposition to prospective investors and supporting reinvestments by existing investors.
In alignment with this, the NIPC boss spotlighted the Nigerian Investment Certification Programme for States (NICPS), developed by NIPC to ensure the readiness of Nigerian states for potential investors.
She elaborated that the program’s goal is to furnish detailed, precise, and timely information for both prospective and current foreign and domestic investors. Consequently, the engagement was deemed crucial to brainstorm methods for driving investment across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT.
Rimi stressed that NIPC would furnish a transparent strategy for seamless collaboration and coordination within the investment ecosystem, fostering robust communication and engagement among stakeholders.
Head of the Department of States Coordination at NIPC, Aisha Wando, emphasised that the engagement with SIPAs provided an avenue for networking with the Commission’s staff and other agency representatives. She noted that the event served as an initial introduction to all NIPC initiatives, with the anticipation of deeper involvement in subsequent quarters.
Wando told LEADERSHIP that the Nigerian Investment Certification Programme for States ( NICPS) has already been effectively implemented in Ekiti, Gombe, and Enugu States.
