The International Finance Corporate (IFC), an arm of the World Bank focused on investing in emerging markets, says it has downgraded Nigeria from among the top five countries that are a haven for attracting private investment in emerging markets
The downgrade was a result of the troubled investment climate that has bedevilled Africa’s largest economy in recent years, Eme Essien Lore, country manager for IFC said Friday.
Lore who spoke at the 2nd private equity summit organized by Udo Udoma & Bello Osagie said despite the vast deposits of human and mineral resources in the country.
The country is still faced with numerous challenges including external imbalance, increasing poverty; declining per capital income; as well as disturbing human capital indicators in health and in education.
Nigeria now stays with the region of top 10 economies where investors should look to invest, a decline from the previous spot of top five, she said.
According to Lore, Nigeria needs to embark on a strong, bold policy reforms in the power sector, road infrastructure by collaborating with the private sector.
“Nigeria should be in the top five given the enormous need we have for private capital. But we are not there because we are shying away from the reforms that can attract capital,” Lore said during a presentation at the event”.
Lore noted that Nigeria’s low growth problem is overshadowing favourable demographics in the country. “An annual growth rate of 2 percent is poor for a developing economy adjudged to have the opportunity to grow between 7-10 percent annually,” she said.