Nigeria’s foremost values based leadership development
organization, the Nigeria Leadership Initiative [NLI], with support from First
Bank of Nigeria Plc (First Bank) will hold a Guest Speaker Forum in Washington,
DC, United States on Monday, March 10, 2014.
The Forum is expected to x-ray the current economic
and investment environment in Nigeria; discuss how the present leadership in
Nigeria successfully executed policy frameworks that has today effectively
elevated Nigeria to become the number one destination of choice for Foreign
Direct Investments (FDI) in Africa and; outline economic strategies that
Nigeria is putting in place to diversify its economy and significantly reduce
its dependence on oil.
Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, will make a presentation on the theme:
‘’Beyond Oil: the Investment Climate in Nigeria’’. Guests expected at the event
include: General Collin Powel, Mrs. Madeline Albright, US and African corporate
executives, business leaders and investors, US policy makers (from the
Department of Commerce and Congress) and the Chamber of Commerce, NLI Fellows
and Associates, as well as others interested in Nigeria’s trade and investment
matters.
The Guest Speaker Forum is aimed at
bringing Nigeria to the fore in a more positive light in order to boost investment and
reappraise the level of trade confidence other countries have in Nigeria. It is
also a forum conceived to facilitate the transfer of experiential
learning and knowledge from accomplished Nigerians to emerging Nigerian
leaders.
According to NLI’s CEO, Yinka
Oyinlola, ‘’NLI views the Guest Speaker
Forum (GSF) as a significant event which has the potential of scaling up
international attention and interest in the economic future and current
investment climate of Nigeria. NLI strongly believes that as the global
business and investment community are availed with platforms like the GS,F
which provides them with credible information and data as to the true
investment climate in Nigeria, Nigeria will begin to record even greater
increase in its foreign direct investments (FDI) numbers.” Oyinlola
Praised FBN for showing faith in Nigeria by supporting the NLI Guest Speaker
Forum.
Also
commenting on the event, FirstBank’s, Head, Marketing & Corporate Communication, Mrs.
Folake Ani-Mumuney, said that “FBN is
proud to support the NLI Guest Speaker Forum which it considers as a strategic
platform for raising Nigeria’s image and economic profile globally”. Commenting further, she said, “The Guest Speaker Forum scheduled for
Washington DC and to be addressed by the Honorable Minister of Industry, Trade
and Investment, is carefully calibrated to create awareness about the rich
investment climate in Nigeria. FBN is happy to be at the vanguard of supporting
initiatives that impact positively on the economic wellbeing of Nigeria”