By Mohammed Mohammed
The Federal Government has said that it had granted 12,000 Expatriate Quota licences to foreigners seeking to work in the country from 2,000 companies in two years.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, whilst delivering goodwill at the 6th edition of the Annual Kaduna Economic Investment, KADINVEST in Kaduna on Friday.
According to the Minister: “The Ministry from inception till date has handled 14,690 companies and granted 126,893 quota licences to expatriates.
However, from August 2019 till date we have registered more than 2,000 companies while over 12,000 expatriates have been given permits to work in Nigeria, Aregbesola, said.
“We now handle applications with dispatch and will encourage any firm or organisation with genuine need for expatriates to bring their applications.
We shall accord it with the required courtesy. The Minister also reiterated the fact that Nigeria is still a good and profitable investment haven, even in the face of security challenges.
“In spite of the challenges we have faced, it might interest us to know that Nigeria is still an investor’s dream where there is abundant raw materials, highly skilled and affordable workforce and the largest market for goods and services in Africa.
“The return on investment has always been mouth-watering”, the Minister stated.
The Minister who commended the Kaduna State Government, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) for organising this Summit and choosing the topic, ‘Towards a sustainable knowledge-based economy’, revealed that this year’s theme is a most fitting concept for the moment.
According to Ogbeni Aregbesola, there has been a paradigm shift from comparative advantage to competitiveness and knowledge and innovation will continue to drive business in the foreseeable future. He therefore asked Nigerian entrepreneurs to invest in knowledge, innovation and cutting-edge technologies.
However, the Minister noted the nexus between security and the economy, stating that security is a critical factor in economic production and assures that the government is addressing the challenges faced by the country.
“No economic activity can take place successfully in an insecure environment. This is where government comes in. As we all know, we have had some security challenges in the past, but we are overcoming them and hopefully they will soon be a thing of the past, given government renewed onslaught on the problem. The environment must be enabling for business.
“The Federal Government is deeply concerned about national security and will spare no effort to secure lives, property and every inch of our territory. A cardinal objective of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration is to improve considerably the ease of doing business and minimise, if not eliminate altogether, any hinderance to doing business in Nigeria,” the Minister revealed.