Sambo meets with world’s fifth richest man in Nigeria’s investment drive

In an effort to woo more investments into the country, Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo on Sunday met with Forbes fifth richest man in the world, the Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, at the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
At the meeting, Sambo acquainted him with the giant strides Nigeria was making in her quest for prosperity.
He used the opportunity to intimate the prince of the recently concluded privatization of the power sector, the opportunities that abound in the development of gas infrastructure as well as government’s plan to invest $1 billion in the sector while seeking for more investors.
He assured the billionaire of the viability of the sector.
Sambo also briefed the prince of the development in the upstream and downstream sectors of the economy as regard marginal fields, refineries, chemical as well as fertilizer plants just to mention a few.
He availed the billionaire prince of the opportunities in the transport sector such as the deep sea ports, railways and roads to be constructed on a public private partnership.
The vice president called for investments in local sugar production, dams with facility to develop irrigation, the industrial framework for Nigeria in the automobile industry, development of steel and other solid mineral deposits, coal to power plant and the opportunities being unlocked by the Halal Meat industry.
Sambo also informed the prince of the Centenary City project and the need for private investments as well as the planned regional routes that connect Lagos (in Nigeria) with Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire, which agreement would soon be signed.
He assured the prince that Nigeria would provide the enabling environment for investors to participate in business and thanked him for the confidence he has in Nigeria.
In his response, Alwaleed said that he has a long-term investment in Nigeria in the Oil & Gas sector and is involved in a chain of businesses in the hospitality industry, construction, as well as many others.
Some of his businesses include the Fairmont, Four Seasons and the Citygroup.
The prince was excited with the growth rate of Nigeria and stated that he, alongside his partners, was currently executing Fund No. 3 to tackle the African continent.
Prince Alwaleed praised the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan, stating that the President was doing well inspite of the challenges of Boko Haram and expressed his willingness to participate in the Nigeria’s business sector, adding: “You cannot talk of Africa without talking about Nigeria.”
Present at the meeting were Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State; Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abubakar Bunu; his Charge D’affaires, Umar Farouk; and other top government officials.