Nigeria to revisit negotiations on bilateral investment agreements with Brazil – Minister

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Richard Adebayo, says Nigeria will revisit pending bilateral investment agreements with Brazil.

Adebayo, in a statement signed by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mr Ibrahim Haruna, on Thursday in Abuja, said that Nigeria had a long history of bilateral relationship with Brazil.

The statement was issued after the Minister received a delegation from the Brazilian Embassy, led by Mr Ricardo Guerra de Araujo, the Brazilian Ambassador and Mr Jackson Lima, Deputy Head of Mission in Nigeria, in his office.

He said the Federal Government was willing to spread its trade and investment tentacles across the world in line with the economic blueprint of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“This government believes in investment drive and will leave no stone unturned in considering those multilateral and bilateral investment agreements capable of showcasing its investment potential to the world.

“In line with the blueprint of the Buhari Administration, we will look into all the documents submitted by the Brazilian delegation to see how they can assist people in job creation, capacity building and technology transfer,” he said.

Earlier in his remarks, Guerra de Araujo said that the agreement which began in January 2016, under the Cooperation and Facilitation Investment, would offer Nigeria a loan facility to the tune of 1.1 billion dollars.

According to him, the agreement covers areas in agriculture, trade, investment and industrialisation, with the capacity to create 100,000 new jobs for youths across different sectors.

The envoy disclosed that Brazil had signed a similar agreement with countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Morocco, Ethiopia and the United Arabic Emirate (UAE), the most recent.

He said that reviving Nigeria’s cotton industry through modern technology would be included in the programme.

He described Nigeria as the largest investment destination on the African continent, which was the reason Brazil was giving it top priority.

He urged the Minister to set all technical framework in motion ahead of the first exchange of information between the two countries scheduled between Sept. 9 and 13, for further negotiations. -NAN