APM Terminals Nigeria has emphasised that the government’s continuity and consistency in policy and regulations are key to providing an enabling environment for foreign investment to flow into the country.
This was stated by the Chief Executive Officer of APM Terminals Nigeria, Frederik Klinke, at the 31st yearly Nigerian Economic Summit, which concluded recently in Abuja with the theme: “The Reform Imperative: Building a Prosperous and Inclusive Nigeria by 2030.”
At a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Roundtable panel discussion on the “Future of Infrastructure Funding in Nigeria,” Klinke described Nigeria’s inclusion in every global investor’s portfolio as crucial to their long-term strategy for Africa. He said while investors are concerned about long term predictability, there must be policies in place that would not change.
According to him, there is a lot of positivity around the reforms being taken by the government; however, there has to be the right regulatory environment for predictability that guarantees that the rules will not change.
“The same goes for the commercial terms of these investments. When you operate in a volatile inflation and forex environment like Nigeria, investors understand that, but there has to be assurance that the regulation in place allows for such volatility by enabling investors to adjust tariffs when inflation runs high. If that is not in place, it becomes a huge hindrance to business,” he said.
Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Jobson Ewalefoh, said political risk was Nigeria’s biggest hindrance to investors.
According to him, the discussion before goes beyond the funding of physical assets, as the nation’s infrastructure gap represents a significant challenge and transformative opportunity.
“Public resources can no longer support the transformation we envisage. As a country, we cannot run away from the fact that we have an infrastructure challenge. This is what we are trying to do differently at ICRC; we are trying to create solutions for the problems.
“We have begun this by streamlining the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) process. Lots of people want to invest in Nigeria, which is open for business and the ICRC is available to guide investors,” he stated.
