Dike Onwuamaeze
The Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) has expressed hope that transparent conduct of the general elections that are scheduled to hold in Nigeria on February 25 and March 11 would enhance investment inflows that would boost the country’s economy.
This hope was expressed by the Chairman of the CWEIC, Lord Marland, when he addressed the press in Lagos during his recent visit to Nigeria to meet with current and prospective members of the council.
He said: “I feel confident that after the elections things will start recharging again. The key for any organisation to invest in a country is rule of law, transparency, integrity of the deal and understanding the rules of engagement. I see Nigeria on a pathway to establishing that more clearly.”
The Chairman of the CWEIC added that the council was “hopeful that there will be fair, open and transparent elections that will follow democratic process and we will obviously support the democratically elected leader because we are nonpolitical.
“I hope that we have a fair, open and transparent election so that people will know the direction of their travel to regenerate the economy.”
He also said that Nigeria’s economy would be in full steam once the election is over and the new government that would be sworn in would begin to give direction to the economy.
“Nigerians are incredibly entrepreneurial and business focused people. I think that once the sense of mission and direction the new government will give, things will take off again,” he said.
He, however, noted that the Commonwealth is faced with major challenges, which included climate change and youth unemployment.
“I think that our generation has two legacy issues which we need to confront. One is climate change. I was minister for Climate Change in the UK so that is something close to our heart to do and as you rightly said the issue of youth unemployment that is really a big responsibility.
“But what I have been saying to businesses throughout the Commonwealth is that it is a legacy to ensure that youths who are under 30 years can see a future and have hope and have opportunities by scaling them up, educating them and providing jobs for them.
“Jobs can only be provided in the time of prosperity. We have had these sizable awful global shocks from the COVID and the Ukraine war, which has really setback prosperity and growth of countries.
“So through trade and export and business activities growth can be developed again and we consider ourselves as support act to the companies,” the chairman said.
He said that the CWEIC would provide the network and connectivity for those businesses to drive themselves and make necessary investments to lift the economy, adding ensuring “food security is very much at the top of the council’s agenda for Nigeria.
“I am meeting with agri-businesses here to discuss how we can help the onward move of improving productivity. And we had a conference in London in December 2022 and one of the key things was climate change and its effect on food security.
“The network that we have provides opportunities for people to discuss opportunities in improving agricultural productivity and quality. Because you know that in our network, we have some of the major agro businesses that dialogue with each other across the Commonwealth and exchange views that will enable people to enhance their productivity.”
