American investors eye opportunities in Nigeria

Some investors from the United States of America have expressed optimism about the investment opportunities that are in Nigeria.

The investors, who are part of the USAID-sponsored American Institutional Investor Reverse Roadshow, spoke at a reception hosted by the Consul General of the United States of America in Nigeria, Will Stevens, at his residence on Tuesday.

USAID, in partnership with the US government’s Prosper Africa, and Power Africa initiatives, hosted the roadshow to expose American investors to investment opportunities and the investment ecosystem in Nigeria.

The delegation was made up of 12 executives from leading US pension funds and financial service providers, managing over $1tn in assets. While their focus is on infrastructure, they are looking at other sectors of the Nigerian economy.

In his welcome address, the US CG said, “This trip is one of the four pillars of Prosper Africa, the concept that promotes bilateral trade and bilateral investment. A lot of people look at the US government efforts and efforts of diplomatic missions and think, ‘Well, you’re really all about helping American companies,’ which we do. We are happy to help American companies sell their products here and we are also happy to help Nigerians who want to invest in the United States, but with the concept of Prosper Africa, we are also focused on promoting Nigerian trade to the United States. The fourth pillar is promoting US investment into Nigeria which includes our companies and institutional investors. There is one thing I hear from the companies and business leaders I speak with and it is, you want more investment. I’m confident that this delegation will lead to more investment. That investment will hopefully promote economic growth and employment and be broad-based.

Beyond promoting investment, this trip is about building enduring trading investments.”

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, capital importation from the US was the highest in the second quarter of 2023 at $271.92m, marking 26.39 per cent of total capital importation followed by Singapore and the Republic of South Africa with $177.44m (17.22 per cent) and $136.95m (13.29 per cent) respectively.

In his comments, the Deputy Executive Director for the New York City Board of Education Retirement System, Daniel Miller, said, “My hope is that when you return home to the US, you will carry with you fresh perspectives on African investment. Speaking from my experience, this trip has been nothing but transformative. Since my first trip in 2019, we have allocated millions of dollars to Africa, a significant part of it is invested right here in Nigeria. I can assure you, this is just the beginning.”

One of the investors, Mark Feasel, who is the chief commercial officer of Fuelcell Energy speaking to The PUNCH said, “There are amazing companies in Nigeria. I have been in Nigeria since Sunday and I have been in seven places including Alaro City. I don’t mess around, there is entrepreneurship in this country and so, I want to partner. I want to bring US technology that we can surround with local expertise in Nigeria, create jobs and so on.”