The Federal Government has been advised to come up with strong regulations on border control to prevent importation of unauthorised goods into the country.
President, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Prince Dapo Adelegan, made this call at the chamber’s breakfast meeting in Lagos.
He said this was necessary to prevent the local industries from total collapse.
Adelegan who was represented by the Deputy President of the Chamber, Mr. Akin Olawore said several goods had been confiscated by the Nigeria Custom Service in recent time and that the government needed a strong policy direction to prevent smugglers from turning Nigeria into a dumping ground.
Dumping ground
Meanwhile, the Guest Speaker at the breakfast meeting, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, who is the Managing Director, Fidelity Bank, said that as a result of deregulation, shift in government spending has enhanced Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies.
Speaking on a paper titled, “Beyond Oil & Gas: Emerging Business Opportunities in Nigeria,” Okonkwo noted that opportunities abound in the ICT, mining, Construction property /services, transaport,food energy, and education sub-sectors of the economy. He explained that the mining industry will create employment opportunities through raw and processed mineral for export, private sector mining companies, equipment leasing and maintenance and technical alliance.
According to him, ICT for example, will create more business opportunities such as internet service, e-commerce, internet backbone, co-location and GSM cellular while food production will create job opportunities through processed food export, agro-allied and food processing, quick service, grocery retail, and fast food.
Okonkwo warned that these opportunities should not be taken in isolation, saying there was a need to develop appropriate regulations, provide fitting infrastructure, create a complementary finance system, and provide an enabling environment that could be exploited for economic prosperity.
Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Ray Kyles expressed readiness of the British government to support Nigeria in its economic transformation drive.
He hinted that energy and infrastructural development will be key to most British investors coming to invest in the country
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