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WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE CONSUL GENERAL OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
HON. CHUDI OKAFOR
ON THE OCASSION OF AMERICAN NIGERIAN INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INVESTMENT CONFERENCE,
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2010
H.E the Executive Governor of Benue State, Dr. Gabriel Suswan,
Goodwill Amb. & Adviser to the African Union, Amb. Oscar Webb,
The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. David Adulugba, Esq,
The President and CEO, American Nigerian International Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Emelia Orubele,
The President, World Trade Center, Atlanta, Dr. William Poole,
Distinguished Senator Emanuel Jones, Chairman of Georgia Legislative Black Caucus,
Federal and State Government Representatives, from Nigeria, here present,
Representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, here present,
Friends of Nigeria, in our midst,
Fellow Nigerians,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good evening and welcome.
It is indeed an immense honour and pleasure, as always, to welcome the Nigerian delegation to the Non-oil Trade and Investment Conference, in Atlanta, in which top Government functionaries and notable stakeholders from Nigeria, and the U. S., are participating. In particular, I would like to seize this opportunity to thank the Executive Governor of Benue State, Dr. Gabriel Suswan, for making it a point of duty to be here for this important occasion, in spite of his very busy schedule. Sir, you are welcome.
2. I also wish to acknowledge in absentia, the award recipient, H. E. Governor Babatunde Fashola. It is appropriate to congratulate him for the enviable achievements that have been recorded in Lagos State, under his administration. Without question, H. E. Governor Fashola, represents the changing face of Nigeria and her democracy, especially in the sphere of public, private partnership.
3. Many thanks also go to the Honourable Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jubril Martins Kuye, for turning around the fortunes of the Ministry into a productive, industrially friendly, and commercially viable domestic and foreign asset for Nigeria. The Honourable Minister was in this region just few days after his appointment, and promised then that he would return to Nigeria and re-equip with a view to bringing to Atlanta the movers and shakers of the Organized Private Sector, to partner with their American counterparts. From the introduction and line- up here this evening, in my view, the Honourable Minister has lived up to his promise.
4. May I, at this point, pay special tribute to the illimitable and energetic President and CEO of the American Nigerian International Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Emelia Orubele, who with the kind sponsorship of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, made this event possible. In fact, we have the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council in our midst, Mr. David Adulugba, Esq, Sir, you are welcome. I wish to recognize the presence of Senator Silas Janfa in our midst. I also wish to recognize the presence of Gen. Munn, Chairman, NEPC Governing Board. I welcome other participants representing their Ministries and extra-Ministerial Departments, Organizations, and Agencies from Nigeria.
5. Now, to our hosts. It is always a joy to thank our American friends and reliable partners for their attendance, support, hospitality and disposition, for genuine partnership with their Nigerian counterparts. They always mean business, and that explains why the crème de la crème of the Atlanta business personalities are here with us. In particular, I welcome Dr. William Poole, President, World Trade Center, Atlanta, I welcome Senator Emanuel Jones, Chairman, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. I welcome Mr. Joe Beasley, Director, Rainbow Coalition, I welcome Dr. Cedric Suzman of World Affairs Council of Atlanta, and others.
Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
6. During my three years sojourn, as the humble servant of my country in this second fastest growing economic region of the U. S., one of the most frequently asked question is why Nigeria’s top public and OPS functionaries have made Atlanta their destination, when they visit the U. S.? In the last two years alone, about twelve State Houses of Assembly members from Nigeria, have visited their counterparts at the Georgia State Congress, to cross-pollinate ideas on legislative business. I have lost count of our distinguished Senators, Executive Governors, and Honourable members of the House of Representatives, who visited or transited Atlanta. There have been Trade Missions, Conferences, Cultural and Students Exchange programmes, as well.
7. The plain truth is that these frequent visits and interactions have been made possible by Atlanta’s conducive environment and friendly disposition for business. It is noteworthy that Atlanta holds a remarkable record of promoting African values and projecting the economic, trade, historical and cultural links between the U. S. and Africa. This is not all, as there are other reasons that have to do with the brand assets that make Atlanta an investment destination.
8. There is the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, owned by a Local Government Council, which is the busiest commercial airport in the world. Twenty-six out of Fortune 1,000 companies have their Headquarters in Atlanta. There is the Delta Air Lines, and its Nigerian route is the most lucrative across the Atlantic. There is the CNN, the Martin Luther King Center, the Carter Center, Coca- Cola, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, all with headquarters in Atlanta. Today, there are 117 Consular representations from various countries, Trade Offices and many bi-lateral Chambers of Commerce in Atlanta.
Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
9. Without meaning to pre-empt our august visitors and the star-studded panelists for this Trade and Investment Conference, I wish to take the liberty of this welcome address to spotlight some good news coming out of Nigeria. With the experience of hindsight, it is a self evident truth that given the dominant place of petroleum in the Nigerian economy, our economic base will dwindle given the vicissitudes in the global oil market place, if we continue as a nation to rely on a mono-product economy. Nigeria is therefore restructuring her economic base with a view to attracting foreign direct investments, especially in non-oil areas, in order to increase her capacity for sustainable economic development and increase international partnership.
10. There is no doubt that Nigeria’s recent economic and political reforms have dramatically improved corporate governance and political climate of the country, especially in the Western eyes. In point of fact, trade and market liberalization, the banking sector consolidation and privatization, the unceasing fight against corruption and other economic crimes, as well as, the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis, have all combined to make Nigeria a safer business environment.
11. Additionally, is Nigeria’s low debt profile, the prevailing macroeconomic stability, even when most Western industrialized States are going through unprecedented economic challenges. Our financial system is stable, robust and healthy, as attested to by the International Monetary Fund. The implication here is that there is no question of corporate default in Nigeria. It is, therefore, no wonder that Nigeria is included in the MAVINS- that is, the emerging markets of Mexico, Argentina, Vietnam, India, Nigeria and South Africa, who are economic giants in their various regions, soon to join the league of developed industrial nations..
12. What is more, Nigeria is today rebuilding her human capacity to support a modern economy by revitalizing the education sector for the challenges of the knowledge and information economy of the 21st century. It is, however, not enough for us to say that Nigerians in North America are the most educated group of immigrants, if their ideas and technologies they have acquired are not transferred to their country of origin. It is therefore, our wish to see this enviable feat of hard work and education at the highest level replicated in Nigeria, and to be reflected in our schools, universities, research centers, industries, the job place and on the kitchen table to ensure that we feed our teeming population. This is why deliberate measures are on-going, to rebuild, overhaul and improve our infrastructure, particularly, power supply and transportation, to decrease the cost of doing business.
Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
13. By any calculation, with 150 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with a current GDP growth rate of 7.23%, foreign reserve of $36billion, and an inflation rate of 11%. Clearly, Nigeria’s rich human and material resources, even without the petroleum sector, bestow on her the desired potential to become a major player in the global marketplace. Indeed, it is in the context of the various national development challenges that the present Administration in Nigeria is leveraging from development experiences of the recent past.
14. It is doing so by embarking on a new development paradigm that exploits the linkages between industrialization and strategic structural transformation, from bottom up, to enable Nigeria achieve her desired vision with a predictable roadmap. Our target as a nation is to achieve by the year 2020, when we expect to be among the twentieth largest developed economies in the world, a GDP of not less than $900 billion, and a per capita income of not less than $4,000. It is doable.
15. Of course Nigeria is aware that to attain this desired economic status, she must compete and address issues such as social equity, corruption sustained democratic governance, as well as, generate growth in a responsible, transparent and environmentally friendly manner. In the face of these daunting challenges ahead, I want to assure you that Nigeria is poised to leapfrog the development gap and board the G20 flight in no distant future. Our confidence is buoyed by the unparallel level of commitment and interest our sons and daughters in the Diaspora have shown, since the dawn of democracy more than ten year ago to put Nigeria where she rightly belongs in the comity of democratic nations.
16. No one should doubt that when Nigerians mean to put their heads and minds to achieve a task, nothing can stop them. For instance, Nigeria is currently the fastest growing telecom sector in Africa, and the 3rd in the world. Only ten years ago, when virtually nothing was happening in our telecommunications sector, Nigerians in the Diaspora matched their technological ability and ideas with their compatriots in Nigeria, and today, there is a revolution in this sector. As a result, we now have 24 well capitalized online banking, and ATM machines have become commonplace in Nigeria. Funds are now wired directly from Nigeria to any part of the world for business. Indeed, the e-commerce torch has been lit in Nigeria.
Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
17. All this is not to say that we do not as a nation have concerns, challenges and problems. The paradox, however, is that Nigeria is a potentially rich country and at the same time poor. I am glad that we have at this ‘Trade and Investment Conference, with an appropriate theme, ‘Destination Nigeria’, the OPS representatives, and regulatory bodies, who will give you the root and branch details of doing business in Nigeria, and what we are doing as a nation to project Nigeria as an investment haven. I urge the Nigerian participants at this Conference to seek closer collaboration with their American counterparts in order to partner in vital areas of America’s experience and competences that could help with the development of the much needed infrastructure in Nigeria.
18. In the same vein, I wish to call on the American business community to take advantage of the huge opportunities that are available in the non-oil sector of Nigeria, and to seize the platform of this Conference to ensure that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative is fully realized, by interacting productively with the leaders of the various sectors of the Nigerian economy. Clearly, you cannot be shortchanged by investing in Nigeria provided you do so through the right channel. I am confident that you are here with good heart and spirit to support and promote our case, and rest assured, that Nigeria is ready for genuine business.
Excellencies, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
19. Before I take my seat, it is trite to say that Nigeria - U.S. relations are excellent, cordial, strong and robust. Significantly, Nigeria is the 14th largest goods trading partner to the U. S., and also her largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. The U. S., like other major powers is aware that unless she engages Nigeria, the most populous and strategic nation in Africa, both in terms of her assets and liabilities, she cannot be said to have fully engaged Africa. Indeed, there is no substitute for purposeful collaboration between a regional power like Nigeria and a global power like the U. S. in view of their overwhelming influence in their respective regions.
20. In conclusion, as you may be aware, Standard and Poors, does not always make ratings, but today, it has reaffirmed its positive rating of the Nigerian economy as good, both for the short and long term. So, I invite you to invest in our infrastructure, invest in our solid minerals, invest in our agriculture, invest in our health, invest in our real estate, invest in our capacity building efforts, and invest in our processing industries, and I assure you, your returns on investments will be high and fast.
21. The time is now. This is why there is a new visa regime in the Nigerian Missions abroad to facilitate business. This means that the Mission in Atlanta is disposed to issuing visas to business entrepreneurs with minimum delay. All you need to do, is to access our website, (www. nigeria-consulate-atl.org), Google it, or if it is convenient, walk in, provided the appropriate paperwork has been done.
22. I wish you fruitful deliberations and thank you for listening.
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