Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), says Nigeria needs to shift its focus from stabilisation to job creation and attracting global investments.
Okonjo-Iweala spoke on Wednesday during a fireside chat at
the Nigeria House during the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
“As you said, some good reforms are being pursued right now.
I think they need to yield into job creation,” she said.
“This is what I also said to His Excellency, Mr President,
that we have to move from stabilisation to creating jobs because that’s where
we are lacking.”
The WTO director-general said the reforms are not going to
be implemented overnight.
She added that the federal government is moving in the right
direction but needs to “map where the opportunities are”.
“What I’d like to see us doing is continue to try to attract
investment into the country because there’s an opportunity now to attract all
these supply chains,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
“So if there’s one thing I’d like to see, everything we can
do to show Nigeria as a country worthy of investing in, that’s what we should
be doing.
“And we should deliberately have a strategy to go after
those investments, to go after investors, to go to China, the United Nations
(UN) — whatever it takes to let them come and invest in our country.”
She said that as investors look to diversify their supply
chains, many are turning to Asia.
“So a lot of the diversification is away from China into
Asia and India is another move,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
“We should attract some of that. I’m not saying all, but a
good sizable chunk. Let’s build solar panels in Nigeria because we’re
importing, but we can also manufacture.
“We have the renewable capacity, the fashion thing, let them
come and invest. Every time we buy a piece of wax, I spend time sometimes to
see where it is made.”
She asked the country to attract investment to manufacture
the product “at home rather than elsewhere”.
“And then, and all the shiny new textiles that we’re all
wearing now, I don’t think they’re made in Nigeria. A lot of them are
imported,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
“Let’s try to attract them. So that’s what I would do. This
is really my passion and pharmaceuticals, there’s a chance there as well.”
The DG added that there are specific supply chains where the
country has strong potential to attract investment.
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