Improved ‘Ease of Doing Business’ will increase FDI inflow – Stanbic IBTC

Stanbic IBTC Bank has said that Nigeria’s improved ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking will increase foreign direct investment, FDI, in the country.

Head, Trade Finance and Enterprise Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Babatunde Akindele, made this assertion during an interview on the sidelines of the ‘Stanbic SME Capacity Building Series’ that was held in Lagos, yesterday.

The latest World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report published last week indicated that Nigeria has moved up 24 places to 145th position in the ‘ Ease of Doing Business’ ranking.

“The implication of this is that, the World Bank is saying Nigeria is better rated as a country where people can do business conveniently”, said Akindele.

He stated further: “Investors examine this index when deciding where to engage their businesses. Hence, we expect that this improvement would foster foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria because a good business environment is a fertile ground for investors “Increases in FDI will definitely affect all the sectors of the economy. A foreign investor that comes in to set up a manufacturing plant will invariably need raw materials. These raw materials will be conveniently sourced from local vendors and these vendors largely represent the Small and Medium scale enterprises, SME.”

Advertisements