President Bola Tinubu has urged the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ) to seize the immense opportunity available in Nigeria for investment without fear.
He made the call on Wednesday as he rang the closing bell, becoming the first African president to ever receive this honour at the establishment.
However, former President Goodluck Jonathan rang the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2013.
Tinubu’s invitation to NASDAQ was part of his push to attract foreign direct investment into Nigeria.
The president said, “It’s a great honour for me to be here. I am happy to bring Nigeria to your doorstep, and I am honoured that we are here today with a bubbling Nigerian stock market that will evolve in the West African sub-region.
The greatest economy in Africa is Nigeria, and there is immense opportunity in Nigeria where you can invest your money without fear.”
The President noted that his government continues to address problems and impediments, such as the restoration and unification of the foreign exchange rate market to a stable and trustworthy level, allowing new investors to easily bring their money into the country, free of worries about whether or not they can take their money out at any point in time.
“You’re free to bring in your money and take it out. I count on you to invest in Nigeria,” the president said.
At the Nigeria-U.S. Executive Business Roundtable held just after the closing bell, President Tinubu assured prospective investors that while he recognises that investment capital is often cautious, he intentionally brought successful Nigerian industrialists and public officials to share their experiences and operational plans, respectively, in addition to all that he has already done to boost the confidence of the global investment community in Nigeria’s presently reforming fiscal, monetary, regulatory, and tax policy environment.
He further said, “Nigeria is an opportunity that is impossible to replicate or find elsewhere in any part of the world.
We have brilliant young people who innovate and consume on a large scale. Our entrepreneurial spirit is a major part of what makes our market unique, aside from demography.
Nigerians build businesses, and Nigerian businesses partner with others to conduct larger business.
“There is enough value to spread around. Be careful of what you hear about Nigeria.
You may be dissuaded from a major opportunity that others will take up. We are here for you. We will give you all the support you need to succeed and succeed abundantly.”
Speaking on behalf of the U.S. Government, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary, Wally Adeyemo, told the country’s business leaders that he had just come from Lagos, Nigeria, where he was on an official visit that later became a fact-finding mission.
“In Lagos, I saw firsthand some of the major reforms you implemented as the Governor of Lagos and the transformative effect they have had on Nigeria’s commercial capital.
People have attested to the fact that the reforms you have put in place as president are quickly enhancing confidence. American business is paying attention to that, and from what we have seen for ourselves, Nigeria is proving to be a new frontier for investment.
We will encourage our companies from our end as those reforms continue to deepen,” Mr Adeyemo said.
The American Business Council President, Mr Sops Ideriah, said that the extensive turnout at the roundtable by American Business Chief Executives served as a testament to the degree to which confidence is rising in response to the actions and words of President Bola Tinubu’s administration regarding ease of business, investment promotion, and his willingness to personally intervene where required to ease the historical concerns of American business people about doing business in Nigeria.
“Having all the stakeholders in the room, His Excellency the President of Nigeria being here, from government actors at the federal and state level to ministers and tax authorities present, as well as private sector industrialists in Nigeria, we are very positive about the potential of Nigeria, and we are just reinforcing to our colleagues the message about the economic opportunities that exist there,” Mr Ideriah said.
In his remark, Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, assured the American Captains of Industry that under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, the nation’s apex tax authority will focus its efforts not on taxing the seed but only on the proportionate taxation of the fruit of fully formed industry through efficient policy synergy with Nigeria’s sub-national authorities.
“The President is a business enabler, not a handicapper. Everything we do will be geared towards making your tax assessment and payment processes as digitally efficient and transparent as possible.
We are not after the seed, but the fruit and we will keep to this commitment.”
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