Investors are shunning Nigeria because of lack of respect for sanctity of contract and property right.

According to a foreign investment broker, Mr. Osita Oparaugo, Managing Director of Footprint to Africa in Abuja.

Investors are put off Nigeria because it is difficult to do business in Nigeria and the painful fact that both private and public entities in the country have no scruples discarding an agreement reached with foreign investors if they eventually disclosed that the initial agreement was not in their favour.

Oparaugo said “We must learn to stick to terms of Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs); institutionalize continuity in government policies, projects and programmes even when there is a different party or government in power.

“It is essential to boost investor confidence and the recent Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) ratified which removes barriers to trade among members of the World Trade Organization is good.”

Oparaugo lamented that the greatest challenge to the growth and development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is unavailability of finance to SMEs. “Many SMEs because they are family owned do not have the right documentation to access capital to sustain and grow their businesses” he said.

Footprint to Africa which is the process of recording a documentary in partnership with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to showcase the investment opportunities in the non-oil sectors of the Nigerian economy. Upon completion, the documentary will become a marketing tool for the country to attract foreign investors.

It was revealed that the investment brokerage company has so far facilitated about $1.5 billion investment last year alone in agriculture, tourism and oil and gas (about $700 million from oil and gas) projects in six African countries.