‘Government initiating policies that will inspire investors’ confidence’

The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside has stressed the need for the Federal Government to initiate policies that will spur investors’ confidence.

Peterside, who disclosed this at the Harvester Entrepreneurs Forum in Gbagada, Lagos, said the Federal Government is committed to economic growth and creating an investors’ friendly environment with the planned concession of the country’s airport and construction of railway along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

He said the airport concession will provide a lot of opportunities as there will be huge employment around the airport. “Government has awarded the Lagos-Ibadan railway, and it will provide employment while serving as an enabler for businesses. Once we fix the Lagos-Ibadan railway, we will have opened up the artery; if artery in the body is blocked, it’s a matter of time, blood will stop circulating in your body which may lead to death. This is similar to the situation we are facing in the Lagos-Ibadan expressway for some time, the artery is almost blocked, and we have planned to open it, once we open up the artery, by the reason of the railway we want to construct there, we’ll open the major business arteries in Nigeria, which I call the game changer.

“We need to improve the purchasing power of the average Nigerian. An average Nigerian earns N18,000 which is equivalent to nothing when converted to the dollar. You must think on what to do differently and additional value you can bring to the table”, he said.

Painting a picture of Nigeria economy under Donald Trump’s presidency, Peterside said: “Many could not believe that someone like Donald Trump would emerge as the president of the United States of America but today, he is the president. U.S. is the greatest trade partner of Nigeria. We have more import from the country than any other parts of the world.

As at 2016, we have imports worth $5.9 billion, but with the emergence of Trump our luck have changed, with primary interest on America and Americans, Trump will neglect Nigeria,”