US commerce secretary arrives in Abuja with 10 investors as Russia asks to revive Ajaokuta

US commerce secretary Penny Pritzker has arrived in Abuja with a group of 10 investors at the prompting of President Barack Obama in a bid to get them to invest in the Nigerian economy as part of Washington's plans to assist with economic growth.

 

Upon assuming office on May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari visited the US, where he held a bilateral economic summit with President Obama. During the gathering, the US pledged to help Nigeria diversify her economy, arrest the growing Boko Haram menace and assist with the government's fight against corruption.

 

Already, the US has sent military advisers to Nigeria and has provided the Nigerian Army with anti-mine armoured personnel carriers. President Obama has also made available to President Buhari a list of public officials who have stashed stolen Nigerian funds in the US, with a promise to repatriate such money.

 

In furtherance of this assistance, Ms Pritzker arrived in Nigeria yesterday with a team of investors, who will look at sectors they can invest in. Receiving a delegation, President Buhari applauded the ongoing American collaboration with his administration on security and developmental issues.

 

President Buhari's spokesman Femi Adesina, said: “We discussed security, corruption, infrastructure, and many other issues. We thank America for sending experts to train our troops and for providing hardware for our military because we must first stabilise the country before we can move it forward.”

 

Vice president Yemi Osinbajo, added: “We’ve always talked about diversification but never got round to doing it but the opportunity has come now. We have all it takes to be an agricultural nation and we also have solid minerals and we must develop our infrastructure in order to aid business.”

 

Ms Pritzker said: “The purpose is to better understand the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Nigeria. Our team is very optimistic about your government’s commitment to security, good governance, fighting corruption, having reliable and regular regulatory policies.

“All these make us optimistic about working together. We are not here to sell policies but to partner with you.”

 

In a related development, the Russian company that designed and built the now moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company about two decades ago has recently written to the federal government, indicating its willingness to return and complete the project so that the multibillion naira investment can commence production. Tyazhprom Export, a steel company established in the late 1950s, was contracted to construct the plant with the capacity of producing 1.3m tonnes a year.

 

However, it seems the federal government, which has not responded to the letter yet, is not very keen about the Russian firm’s offer to return and make the rusting company work again. Officials of the Russian company said if made to work again, Ajaokuta would play a major role in President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda on poverty eradication.