The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has said that presidents need not travel the whole world to attract foreign investments into the country.
Obi in a post made on his X account said investments flow naturally where the environment is conducive as there would not be any need to force it.
Describing investment and conducive environment as a honey and bee kind of relationship, the former Anambra State governor said Foreign Direct Investment does not come with presidents globetrotting.
He said, “Though I have never—and will not—compare the United States of America, with its over $28 trillion GDP, to our country, Nigeria, with a GDP of about $250 billion, less than 1% of the USA GDP, I want to simply observe, and note where investment flows and why: to places with an inevitable, favourable environment.”
Obi’s post comes barely hours after President Bola Tinubu departed Abuja for Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania for the Africa Energy Summit, organised by the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the government of Tanzania.
Citing an example with the $1.1 trillion investment in-flow into the USA this month, Obi said this happened because of desirable environments and intangible assets.
“This was achieved without the President jetting around the world to attract such investments. I have always maintained that with the right Leadership, prioritizing intangible assets, security, rule of law and resources allocated to productive sectors appropriately, that will unleash a productive society and allow entrepreneurship to thrive.
“This, in turn, will attract investments comparable to those in other developing nations with large populations, just like ours. For example, Indonesia, with a similar population of around 265 million—just 10-15% more than Nigeria’s 230 million—has invested in critical areas like healthcare, education, and poverty alleviation,” Obi noted.
He further state that having such focus has enabled these countries to achieve significant development and attract foreign investments.
He added that countries like Indonesia, with a nominal GDP of approximately $165 billion in the year 2000, now has a GDP of about $1.39 trillion in the year 2024, an increase of over eight times while India, with a nominal GDP of approximately $476 billion in the year 2000, now have a GDP of about $3.73 trillion in the year 2024, an increase of nearly eight times.
In addition, he said that countries like Vietnam, with a nominal GDP of approximately $31 billion in the year 2000, now have a GDP of about $506 billion in the year 2024, an increase of over 16 times.
“Our country Nigeria, with a nominal GDP of approximately $70 billion in the year 2000, now has a GDP of about $210 billion in the year 2024, an increase of over three times,” he said.
According to him, what Nigeria needs to learn at this stage from these countries is to pay attention to actions and policies they have taken to achieve such rapid growth.
He said, “Indonesia now attracting about 10 times the foreign direct investment than we do. This is the kind of economic shift we should aim for by replicating the strategies of nations that have succeeded in similar circumstances. For us in Nigeria, all hope is not as a new productive remains Possible.”