FOREIGN investors on their way to Nigeria via embattled Arik Air were allegedly denied boarding access on a flight to Nigeria from a major foreign airport, supposedly for not being in compliance with the country’s visa requirements.
The development comes in the wake of a new visa regime that encourages expatriates to obtain visas at any of the country’s points of entry – a development aimed at spurring direct foreign investment in the local economy.
Trade and investment minister, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, said at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas Trade and Investment Forum 2012 holding in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that the new visa policy has started yielding positive results, saying that some of the investors at the forum were beneficiaries of the new policy as they obtained their visas at the port of entry in Nigeria.
“We have investors globally participating in the forum; there are investors invited from Europe and other countries.
“I met with seven of them a few days ago and they confirmed that they actually tested the new visa policy which says that you can obtain your visa at the port of entry.
“They went online, filled their forms, paid their fees, have their receipt and based on that they were granted visa at the port of entry; this shows that the new government policy which is to encourage investors and tourists is really working.”
Aganga also said that the government was addressing the issues of security and infrastructure challenges to further boost the country’s investment environment.
“Security is very important when you are talking of attracting investment; you heard the president talking about it very many times, I am absolutely sure that the federal government is working tirelessly on it.”
The minister said that in spite of the security challenges, investors were being attracted to Nigeria because of the high rate of return on investment.
“As of today when you look at the investors coming to Nigeria, they are after two main things, one of which is the return on investment.
“There is no place in the world where you have the kind of return on investment you have in Nigeria.
“Look at what has happened in the finance sector through backward integration; go and look at the published accounts by all the banks, you will see the level of profitability.
“You cannot make such a profit in most countries as of today, so I think investors have profit on their investment, money follows money that is why they want to invest not because they want to make charity and there still so many opportunities in the country.”
Unfortunately, according to a senior official at Mr. Aganga’s trade and investment ministry, the forum suffered a setback as Arik Airline refused to carry some of the investors expected at the forum.
The official, who requested anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to speak on the issue, said the airline refused to board the would-be investors at the forum because they were not in possession of Nigerian visas, claiming that its management had not been properly informed on the policy and that they only got the information through the media.