Elumelu promotes Nigeria to French business community as top investment destination

Entrepreneur, philanthropist and promoter of Africaptalism, Tony Elumelu, in a speech delivered in Paris, France, recently, sold Nigeria as investment destination to the French business community.

Elumelu delivered the speech as a guest speaker at the first ‘Colloque Nigeria,’ a colloquium on doing business and investment in Nigeria, organised by the French Senate in Paris.

Speaking at the conference, Elumelu said like every part of the world, investors in Nigeria and Africa were faced with a myriad of challenges, but amid 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.

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 urbanisation. While 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, as they need to 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 among the best educated and most-travelled 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.

Also speaking at the Colloque Nigeria summit, the President of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, stressed that the summit was strategic to French business interests, as Nigeria remained the first destination of French investment in sub Saharan Africa. ” We want to strengthen these privileged links,” the President said.