The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo on Thursday said that Nigeria will revisit pending bilateral investments agreement with the government of Brazil.
Adebayo stated this in Abuja when he received a high powered delegation from the Brazilian Embassy in Nigeria to his office.
According to a statement made available to the media by Ibrahim Haruna, Deputy Director in the ministry, the delegation led by Mr Ricardo Guerra de Araujo, the Brazilian Ambassador and Mr Jackson Lima, Deputy Head of Mission, noted that Nigeria had a long history of the bilateral relationship with Brazil.
The Minister said the Federal Government was willing to spread Nigeria’s trade and investment tentacles across the world in line with the economic blueprint of the Buhari Administration.
“This government believes in investment drive and we will leave no stone unturned in considering those multilateral and bilateral investment agreements capable of showcasing Nigeria’s investment potential to the world.
“In line with the blueprint of the Buhari Administration, we will look into all the documents submitted today by the Brazilian delegation with a view to seeing how they can assist our people in job creation, capacity building and technology transfer, ” the minister said.
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In his remark, the Ambassador congratulated the Minister on his appointment and noted that the agreement which began in January 2016 under the Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreement, would offer Nigeria loan facility to the tune of $1.1 billion.
He said the agreement covers areas like: Agriculture, Trade, Investment and Industrialization.
He also said the initiative had the capacity to create 100,000 new jobs for the youths across various sectors.
He said Brazil had signed a similar agreement with countries like: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Morocco and Ethiopia, including United Arabic Emirate (UAE) which is the most recent.
He urged the Minister to set all technical framework in motion ahead of the first exchange of information between the two countries towards further negotiations scheduled for 9th – 13th September 2019.
The Ambassador noted that under its Global Value Chain, Brazil would use its position as one of the five top agriculture producers in the world to improve Nigeria’s food sector.
He described Nigeria as the largest investment destination in the African continent and attributed this to why Brazil is giving it a top priority.
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