(Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, ABUJA)
President Buhari has pledged incentive packages to Japanese companies willing to invest in the country in order to deepen and expand their investments.
These incentives include export rebates, access to foreign exchange, land, interest rates, transparency in business regulation and favourable regulatory structure.
The President made the pledge at the just concluded Tokyo International Conference on African Development, “TICAD 6” in Nairobi, Kenya, attended by several African Presidents and Prime Minister and the co-convener of the conference, Shinzo Abe, the head of the Japanese government.
In an article titled SIX TAKEAWAYS FROM PRESIDENT BUHARI’S PARTICIPATION IN “TICAD 6 the senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu said at the sideline of the event, “Collectively and individually, these businesses expressed their intention of either coming in newly or expanding their participation in Nigeria’s private sector. The companies with varied interests in power, agriculture, automobile, motor cycles, textiles, financing and the service sector included the Honda Manufacturing (Nigeria) Limited, representing Honda Motor Co. Ltd; Japan Tobacco Inc., Marubeni Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation.
“Others included Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Toyota Tsusho (Nigeria) Ltd., an affiliate of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, West African Seasoning Co. Ltd., affiliate of Ajinomoto Co. Inc., and Japan External Trade Organization, JETRO.
“At these meetings, they explored the scope for the incentive packages the Nigerian government will give them so as to deepen and expand their investments. These included export rebates, access to Foreign Exchange, land, interest rates, transparency in business regulation and favourable regulatory structure.”
According to the Presidential Media Aide, at the meeting between Buhari and Abe, they discussed how Japanese investment in the country has dropped in the last decade, blaming it on security and “business environment.”