Nigeria expects more than $80 billion in investment in the next five years to spur the West African nation’s industrial development, Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga said.
China Power International Development Ltd., Siemens AG and General Electric Co. and Brazil’s Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA have pledged investments worth “over $50 billion alone” in the country’s power industry, Aganga said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland. Additional funds will be invested by Nigeria’s Dangote Group and automakers including Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Hyundai Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. that want to set up local assembly plants, he said.
“Easily, pipeline investment commitment is much more over $80 billion over the next five years,” he said. “What encourages investors is that we have the right investment and business climate.”
The government is also encouraging local companies to grow and become “another Dangote,” Aganga said, referring to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who has interests in cement and sugar and is currently building a $9 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Nigeria’s southwest.
“There is potential for more Dangotes because of the opportunities that are available and they are taking advantage of that,” Aganga said.