By Emeka Aginam

At the just concluded Columbia Business School, CBS, annual Entrepreneurs in Residence week held last month in New York, the Chief Executive Officer of the Computer Warehouse, CWG, .Austin Okere highlighted the potentials of the   Nigeria’s business competitiveness.

Addressing group of graduate students in the Private Equity and Entrepreneurship in Africa Course with Professor Murray Low of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Centre, Okere said that Nigeria is among the top three investment destinations in Africa.

Quoting figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), he   reiterated that of the $57 billion Foreign Direct Investment that Africa attracted last year, Nigeria accounted for bulk of the investment of about $5.6b, which is very significant given that only six other countries attracted investments above $3b.

This is coming on the heels of Nigeria’s rating   in the latest release of the World Bank Doing Business Report.

Advising the audience to explore other viable geographies, Austin reiterated his view earlier expressed at the World Economic Forum Meeting of the Global Champions in Tianjin, China, that the new frontiers for business expansion following saturation in the developed markets were Africa and Latin America.

While cautioning against wholesale importation of western business model templates into emerging markets given the different geographies, peoples and cultures, he advised local partnerships to explore the immense opportunities in a mutually beneficial manner.

According to him, significant milestones have been achieved in important areas such as pervasive broadband access, making it possible to pursue hitherto impossible business models in Cloud Computing and eCommerce.

He also enumerated the giant strides in Power Sector reforms, Agriculture and SME support and financial inclusion through the Central bank’s cashless initiative, leading to improved financial transparency; and the adoption of the IFRS Accounting standard leading to greater corporate governance standards.

According to Austin, ‘the recent admission of the Nigerian Stock Exchange into the World Federation of Exchanges was testimony to the huge success of the Capital Market reforms, and serves as a positive barometer for investors’ appetite’.

“Being a member of the World Economic Forum’s Business Council and a board member of the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria, there is still a lot to be done for Nigeria to achieve her full potential.”