Netherlands on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to address the level of insecurity in Nigeria and the country’s foreign exchange rate.
It said those two factors were affecting investment in the country.
Nigeria’s forex rate has been fluctuating over time with naira crashing repeatedly against the dollar.
Speaking with a crop of financial journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry van Djik, said the Nigerian government should address insecurity as this was a factor that had been affecting investment.
Djik spoke during a visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, according to a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, sayo.
The statement read in part, “Djik who visited the minister to seek his consent on the revival of bilateral trade consultation between the two countries had wanted the government to address the issue of insecurity and foreign exchange for investors in the country.”
The ambassador also spoke on the need to revive the bilateral consultation between Nigeria and Netherlands, noting that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic forced a postponement of further meetings.
On his part, Adebayo assured investors from the Netherlands that the Federal Government was addressing the issue of insecurity across the country.
The minister said that President, Muhammadu Buhari, recently changed his service chiefs and took other security measures to assure Nigerians and the business community of his desire to ensure that the country was safe for all and sundry.
He also said his ministry had set up a working group on the bilateral consultation between both countries and expressed hopes that before the end of the year, the meeting would be revived.
Adebayo told his guests that he had got commitment from the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the issue of forex, as a meeting on the matter would be held soon.
Adebayo further said that the Federal Government recently signed an agreement for the provision of 25 megawatts of power to each of the free trade zones in Kano and Calabar, urging the investors to also take advantage of this.