ActionAid, CSOs call for accountability, transparency in formulating investment policies

To ensure that investments contribute meaningfully to sustainable national development, ActionAid Nigeria and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria’s investment sector have called for transparency, accountability and civil society participation in the formulation and review of investment policies.

The call was made in Abuja on Thursday, at a stakeholder engagement and on fair and responsible investment governance in Nigeria, organised by ActionAid Nigeria to mark the close-out of the Civil Society Alliance for Fair and Responsible Investment in Nigeria (CSAFRIN) project.

Speaking at the event, Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Dr Andrew Mamedu, represented by the Head of Programmes and Policy, Mr Celestine Odo, said investment policy governance had become increasingly important in determining how Nigeria could pursue economic growth while retaining its ability to regulate in the public interest.

According to him, while Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) are designed to promote investor confidence and attract foreign capital, they have also generated concerns over the balance between investor protections and government’s responsibility to safeguard public interest, policy space, environmental sustainability and social accountability.

Mamedu noted that Nigeria’s experience with investment disputes, particularly in the extractive and energy sectors, highlighted the need for greater awareness, improved coordination and meaningful participation of non-state actors in investment policy reforms.

He said throughout the CSAFRIN project, ActionAid and Policy Alert worked with a broad coalition of stakeholders to generate evidence on Nigeria’s BIT landscape and exposure to Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) while also strengthening citizens’ participation in investment governance.

The ActionAid country director said the engagement demonstrated the important role civil society organisations could play in generating evidence, promoting informed dialogue and advocating for investment frameworks that support equitable and sustainable development.

Also speaking virtually, Faith Paulinus of Policy Alert said Nigeria must place its development priorities, climate commitments and responsible management of natural resources at the centre of investment decisions.

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Paulinus stressed the need for greater participation by civil society organisations and communities in processes relating to investment and natural resource management while urging policymakers to ensure that communities and civil society organisations had meaningful roles in the review of investment policies.

In a goodwill message, the Acting Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Charles Chukwuemeka Abana, Esq., represented by a Director in the Commission, Ugoh Chinemerem, said responsible investment governance was not simply about attracting capital but ensuring that investments contributed to sustainable development, social inclusion, economic growth and improved public value.

Abana said investment decisions must be guided by transparency, accountability, equity, integrity and sound fiscal governance, noting that these principles were essential to building public confidence and ensuring that the benefits of investments were broadly shared.

He said the FRC recognised the important role of civil society organisations in promoting transparency, monitoring public resources, advocating responsible governance and holding public institutions accountable.

Similarly, an Assistant Director in the Budget Office of the Federation, Jide Ologunorisa, said government remained committed to ensuring that resources associated with investments were properly allocated, monitored and tracked for accountability.

Ologunorisa said with increasing investments coming into Nigeria, lessons from the management of public goods, job security and national development made accountability and transparency essential.

He also called for a proper legal framework and institutions capable of giving investors confidence, adding that such measures would help sustain effective public economic policies and advance Nigeria’s national development and commended the Federal Government for its political commitment to improving the country’s economic and national development.