By Princewill Ekwujuru

The most strategic fact influencing economic growth in any country is investment. It is characterised as the main key to increased level of productivity. A strong correlation between investment and economic growth has been revealed by both developing and developed economics of the world to be important .

In countries where poor savings habit exists, what is evident is that, realised savings fall short of desired investment and hence there is disequilibrium in the product market, which in turn slows down rate of economic growth, some economists had posited.

Nigeria as a monoculture economy with dependence on oil, this seems to be responsible for the deficiency in investment capital in the country.

The above situation has created savings and foreign exchange gap, culminating in a wide gap between the actual domestic investment fund and the required investment for accelerating economic growth.

In Nigeria, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been given prominence by past and present administrations. This is because they see it as an antidote to slow growth rate, which has been experienced in the country.

In this regard, the Spirit & Wine festival organised by Sponks Creations highlighted the realities and the need for FDI. The belief that the festival before now could not pull a string may sound difficult to believe or effectively point to the fact that the quest for increased FDI is imperative.

This, however, comes on the heels of the commitment by some foreign firms that participated in the wine exhibition, where they expressed their willingness to invest in Nigeria.

However, the three-day event attracted exhibitors from Chile, Argentina, Spain, France, South Africa, among others.

While notable brands like Champgne & Cigar, Nortern Compass, Magna Mystique, Distell Limited, Crosslink, Diageo, JC Le Roux, Amarula and a host of others, spurred Mrs. Ronke Sobodu, Managing Director, Sponks Creations, organisers of the exhibition to express satisfaction on the festival, saying the festival amongst other things, laid emphasis on the need to promote unique indigenous products and a unique pair of local cuisines with wines.

The exhibition which also centred on promoting trade amongst the Wine & Spirit producing countries and Nigeria, had local spirit producers, importers, distributors, retailers and general consumers project their brands to their respective target market, educate the Nigerian consumers by creating brand awareness.