By Franklin Alli

CANADIAN investors now consider Nigeria a friendly environment to do business  compared to 25 years ago when they held a different view, says the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter.

Cooter who revealed this during a meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, recalled that they were in Nigeria 25 years ago and concluded it was not the best place to invest.

He said that Canada is currently working on strategies aimed at increasing its foreign direct investment in Nigeria within the next few years due to enhanced confidence in the Nigerian economy.

Cooter noted that as part of efforts to strengthen trade and investment relationship between the two countries, more Canadian companies had already indicated their willingness to invest in infrastructural projects across Nigeria.

“Two weeks ago, the Nigeria –Canada Bi-National Commission met in Abuja and the centerpiece of that Bi-National Commission was how to build and strengthen economic relationships between Nigeria and Canada. This is one of the reasons we have brought the Senior Executives of SNC Lavalin, one of the leading engineering and Construction Company in Canada and one of the top five in the world to invest in key infrastructural projects in Nigeria.

Responding, Aganga said: “The Federal Government would partner genuine investors who are willing to invest in critical sectors of the Nigerian economy such as infrastructure, mining, petrochemical and agri-business in order to create jobs for the Nigerian people.

“We have a big infrastructure deficit in Nigeria and that is why the Federal Government is very concerned to bridge the gap by developing the critical infrastructure required to drive our industrial development, especially in those areas where we have comparative and competitive advantage such as mining, petrochemical, agri-business and even the Small and Medium Enterprises sector.