'Nigeria is going to build a digital matchmaking database to boost FDI' - Minister

folarin okunola

January 3, 2017 4:26 PM

Onyeama said the initiative would provide Nigerian goods and services easier access to the world market.

Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Nigerian government has announced plans to establish a database that will match Nigerian businesses with potential international business partners to boost stress-free investments.

Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama made the announcement on Monday in Abuja while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), adding that the country's 119 missions abroad would serve as one-stop shops to spur information sharing and elimination of bottlenecks.

Onyeama said the initiative would provide Nigerian goods and services easier access to the world market as well as enable foreign investors have access to informed and genuine business opportunities in Nigeria.

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According to the Minister, the project is an attempt at economic diplomacy as Nigeria intensifies its efforts to promote exportation of Nigerian goods and services and enhancing the country's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) portfolio.

“It is a pet project. It is a matching making database for our Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and export promotion.

“So this data base will essentially enable any Nigerian business to upload to our database that could be managed from Foreign Affairs together with the ministry of trade and investment,” he said.

He concluded that the project would be used to attract more FDI into the country as it would be open to foreigners and Nigerians in the diaspora who want to list services or products and find partners or opportunities in Nigeria.

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