Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said Nigeria is the best, most natural destination for investment in Africa, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam can leverage the cherished friendship with Nigeria to gain entry to the vast Nigerian and African markets.
Osinbajo made this assertion at his meeting with Vietnamese President, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who also expressed strong commitments to leverage and deepen existing diplomatic relations and friendship with Nigeria for economic development, especially in areas of agriculture, oil and gas, and telecommunications.
Both leaders interacted in what was a very friendly and warm encounter when Osinbajo paid a courtesy call on Phuc, as the Vice President wrapped up a three-day official visit to Vietnam.
The Vice President had, in the first two days of his visit, held talks with his counterpart, Madam Vo Thi Anh Xuan, and Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chính.
He also met the Vietnamese business community under the auspices of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), visited the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the FTP University and its software firm, and also interacted with representatives of the Nigerian community in Vietnam.
On Tuesday, while speaking at the VCCI, Osinbajo had said Nigeria remains the most intuitive place to do business, observing that despite the economic slowdown in the aftermath of the pandemic, GDP growth has been positive for the last seven quarters and though it slowed to 2.3 per cent on a year-to-year basis in the third quarter of this year, it was a 9.7 per cent increase over the second quarter.
He said: “Apart from being the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria also has the continent’s largest economy, accounting for over 20 per cent of continental GDP. The Nigerian private sector has undertaken large path-breaking investments in the country in agriculture, manufacturing, petrochemicals, finance, telecommunications and digital economy.”
In terms of market viability, Osinbajo noted that Nigeria continues to rank very high, explaining how “our people are renowned for being energetic and tech-savvy, with over 60 per cent of the population below 25 years of age.”
In the tech space, the Vice President said “between 2015 and last year, six Nigerian tech-based companies have been certified as unicorns. These are companies valued at over a billion U.S. dollars each.
He stated further: “The creative sector which employs over four million people and has the potential to add 2.7 million by 2025, is ranked the second largest employer of labour after the agricultural sector.
