US investors eye Nigeria’s non-oil sector after P&G’s $300m stake

Following Procter &Gamble (P&G)’s $300 million investment in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, more United States companies are eyeing the country’s non-oil sector, Real Sector Watch can report.
According to the investors, Nigeria’s demography, middle-class sophistication and yet-to-be- exploited opportunities are ingredients that make Africa’s largest economy an attraction.
“I think there is huge potential in a wide range of sectors,” Brian McCleary, US senior commercial officer, who is based in Lagos, told Real Sector Watch, when a  trade delegation made up of 16 US companies representing various sectors visited Nigeria last week in what was described as ‘part of the largest US government –led trade mission to Africa in history.’
“Non- energy sector has expanded rapidly. In 2014, Procter &Gamble opened a manufacturing company with an investment of $300 million. So many sectors in the non-energy sectors are, for me, quite appealing,”McCleary said.
P&G completed an ultra-modern $300 million plant at Agbara, Ogun State, early last year. This was the United States of America’s largest non-oil investment in the country. The investors promised to create over 2000 direct and indirect jobs.
P&G’s investment in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector has shown that Nigeria has a lot of unexploited opportunity in the non-oil sector.
“We are looking at a wide range of sectors. We are also looking at generating a lot of contacts,” McCleary said, at the meeting between the US companies and their Nigerian counterparts.
Opportunities in Nigeria’s non-oil sector, notably manufacturing, health, retail, education/retail, agriculture, among others, have been ignored over the years, as investments in the last four decades tended to move towards oil and energy.
The situation has plunged the economy of Africa’s largest economy in crisis, as crash in the oil market has rendered most sub-national governments broke, making it almost impossible for them to meet their monthly obligations to their workers.
Last week’s visit of the US companies provided an opportunity for Nigerian companies to network with the US firms to explore opportunities in these sectors.
“The visit will bring mutual advantages to both sides,” said Lekan Pitan, former commissioner for health and education in Lagos and special advisor for Africa International Hospital Federation, who was at the event.
“It is important now that we have a new government that has given a new vista to the Nigerian image, where anti-corruption mantra is given a new impetus, not only to Nigerians but also to our image outside,” Pitan said.
According to Dehab Ghebreab, US acting consul general in Lagos, “Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa with countless business opportunities, and it can be a great launching point into other African markets.
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