LAGOS: Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced hope Wednesday for greater US investment in Nigeria, but urged Africa’s largest economy to reassure investors that they can repatriate their funds.
A day after meeting President Bola Tinubu in the capital city Abuja, Blinken visited the commercial metropolis Lagos where he toured a complex of IT startups and inaugurated a new US space showcasing American technology, western media reported.
Blinken’s motorcade passed through teeming streets of the city of over twenty million before entering the sparkling complex of 21st Century Technologies, where he was shown Nigerian innovations in software and virtual reality.
Appreciating Nigerian ingenuity, Blinken said that the US had a growing interest in working with Nigeria, investing here, and partnering with it.
Challenges in Nigeria
But he added, that there are challenges that still need to be met to ensure that this is the most inviting business environment possible.
Blinken said he spoke to Nigerian leaders about problems including the ability to repatriate capital, including the present challenge of rooting out corruption.
Foreign businesses in Nigeria need permission from the central bank to return funds to their home nations.
While the central bank has assured investors, businesses have complained about long delays in recent years as the country’s foreign reserves dwindle as a result of a drop in international oil prices and Nigeria’s own crude production.
Foreign airlines, for example, have been complaining about the slow pace of resolving access to millions of dollars in profits they say are caught in the country.
