By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
ABUJA—Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has urged investors from the United Kingdom to take advantage of the improved business environment in Nigeria to invest in key sectors of the economy.

She gave the advice at a meeting with members of the business delegation of the visiting British Prime Minister, Theresa May.
The minister said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had taken a bold step in creating an enabling business environment for attracting investments, through the establishment of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC.

She expressed the commitment of the Federal Government to further improve on the business environment and sustain existing reforms to consolidate the gains of the economy through the deepening of the sub-national Ease of Doing Business project.

She said: “There are lots of business opportunities in Nigeria and the government is addressing assiduously the impediments to ease of doing business in Nigeria.”

“This will make it easier for businesses to grow and contribute to sustainable economic activity in the country as well as create jobs,” Adeosun said.

The Minister also canvassed the need for the deepening of the Nigerian capital market with specific products that can be channeled towards infrastructure financing.

This, according to her, will ensure the capital market plays a pivotal role in stimulating the economy.
She added, “We can’t have enough capital to finance infrastructure development. Deepening the capital market is key to the funding of infrastructure in Nigeria.”

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who commended the support provided by the Department for International Development, DFID and UKAID, called for more business partnerships between Nigeria and Britain.

The British Minister for Africa, Harriet Baldwin, in her remarks, lauded the trade relations between Britain and Nigeria, adding that more business partnerships would be announced by the visiting Prime Minister.

“We are already partnering with Nigeria in the area of green financing. The Prime Minister has announced new partnerships with the Nigerian Government worth 70 million British pounds which are expected to create over 100,000 jobs in the country,” she said.
She added that the UK’s bilateral trade relationship with Nigeria was currently worth £4.2bn per annum.