 |
| France's Ambassador for International Investment and CEO of Business France, Mrs Muriel Penicaurd; Chairman of UBA Plc and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Chairman of the Senate Inter parliamentary Committee on France-West Africa, Senator Charles Revet; French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Denye Gauer at the French Senate, Palais Du Luxembourg, Paris on Friday, where Mr. Tony Elumelu was guest speaker at the 'Colloque Nigeria: Nigeria, the Leading African Economy' forum |
Lagos,
30-05-2016; Serial entrepreneur, philanthropist and promoter of
Africaptalism, Tony
O. Elumelu on 27 May 2016, delivered an inspiring speech in Paris,
France, selling Nigeria as an investment destination to the French
business community.
Elumelu,
who is the Chairman of Pan-African banking group, United Bank for
Africa (UBA) Plc
and proprietary investment firm, Heirs Holdings delivered the speech as
a guest speaker at the 1st ‘Colloque Nigeria', a colloquium on doing
business and investment in Nigeria, which was organised by the French
Senate at the exquisite Palais de Luxembourg
in Paris, France.
Speaking
at the conference, the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation said that
like every
part of the world, investors in Nigeria and Africa are faced with a
myriad of challenges, but amidst these challenges no other destinations
provided more opportunities and return on investment as do Nigeria and
Africa. "Nigeria remains a very viable, attractive
and important investment and export destination for French companies.
As a matter of fact, I would argue that now is a good time to come and
invest in Nigeria, because it is an investor’s market. The fundamentals
of the Nigerian economy remain strong," he
said.
 |
| Chairman of the Senate Inter parliamentary Committee on France-West Africa, Senator Charles Revet; French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Denye Gauer; Chairman of UBA Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu and France's Ambassador for International Investment and CEO of Business France, Mrs Muriel Penicaurd at the French Senate, Palais Du Luxembourg, Paris on Friday, where Mr. Tony Elumelu was guest speaker at the 'Colloque Nigeria: Nigeria, the Leading African Economy' forum organised by the French Senate |
According
to Elumelu, some of the trends supporting long - term growth in Nigeria
are the increased
use of technology by the Nigerian population, high consumerism, young
demographic and increasing urbanization. Whilst encouraging French
businesses to come and discover Nigeria, he advised the would - be
investors to find the right partner that would help
them navigate the environment and stated that they need be committed to
invest in Nigeria for the long haul.
“Nigeria
has always been a unique country. We are not only the most populous
country on the
continent of Africa, we are amongst the best educated and
most-traveled people in Africa. We Nigerians are well known for our
positive outlook and can-do spirit. Even more importantly, we have a
strong culture and spirit of entrepreneurship. The smart investor,
knows that this is the time to enter our market because the
fundamentals of the Nigerian economy remain strong, and where others
perceive risk and challenge, the glass is actually half full rather than
half empty” Elumelu said.
He asserted that despite the current challenges faced by Nigeria which have been brought about
by the sharp drop in commodity prices, the country still offers one of the highest returns on investment on the continent
Citing
the example of what UBA has been able to achieve in Nigeria, Elumelu
said that UBA has
operated profitably in Nigeria for the past 70 years and in the last
decade, increased its footprint into 18 other countries in Africa as it
set up business offices in Paris, New York and London. “UBA is helping
to finance major projects in infrastructure,
as well as in the agriculture and construction sectors of the African
countries in which we operate, most of these being francophone
countries. We have continued to open more UBA branches of our
subsidiaries and we have become better established in those markets.
The second stage of the roll out on the continent begins later this
year”.
“The large Nigerian economy plays an important leading role in West Africa and beyond. So
when you invest in Nigeria, the benefits spill over to our neighbours in dozens of countries” he continued.
He
thanked the investing community for their enthusiasm about investing in
Nigeria and he encouraged
them to "believe in Nigeria; come to Nigeria; discover Nigeria; invest
in Nigeria; help develop Nigeria and prosper with Nigerians; and most
importantly, take an Africapitalist approach to entering and investing
in Nigeria because what we are looking for are
sustainable partnerships that will deliver sustainable development
through the private sector going about its normal commercial
activities," he concluded.
Also speaking at the Colloque Nigeria summit,
the President of the French Senate, Mr.
Gerard Larcher stressed that the summit is strategic to French business
interests as Nigeria remains the first destination of French investment
in sub Saharan Africa. " We want to strengthen these privileged links,
said the President.
He
thanked Mr Elumelu for his sterling contributions to the economic
development of the continent,
and especially in the area of entrepreneurship where the Tony Elumelu
Foundation - through its Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme - has
been engaging in promoting start-up businesses across the continent
cool
ReplyDelete