YAR'ADUA: ABSENCE FROM POWER STIFLING ECONOMIC GROWTH, FDI – MAN
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that the continued absence of President Musa Yar'Adua from the seat of power has cost the nation a lot of disruptions and uncertainties, especially in the area of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The Association noted that, nobody could predict the outcome of the development, adding that the decision of the National Assembly to pass a resolution making Jonathan Goodluck the Acting President remained a step in the right direction.
This was the position of the President of MAN, Mr.Bashir Borodo in an interview with Daily Sun recently.
Specifically, he said the actions of the National Assembly would help to fill the vacuums that have already been created as a result of the absence of Mr. President from the country in the last three months.
Borodo added that the absence of the President in the country for a long time without anybody stepping into the position was capable of sending wrong signals to would be foreign investors because they may begin to see the country as a place not safe for investment. 'But now that Jonathan is there, I don't think there would be any gap anymore. But we just have to pray that at the end of the day, he would be able to prove his mark' he said.
On funding for its Independent Power Project (IPP), Borodo informed that an American Company-Westpark Petroleum which has an office in Nigeria has shown commitment in this regard and have also commenced the production of gas turbines for the planned take off of the project.
'But, the company is tiding up its own end, especially in the area of enhanced financing. Though; this has nothing to do with us because it is an internal issue, which the company is trying to address' he said.
Borodo argued further that, the issue of IPP remained a very capital intensive project that cannot be shouldered by the association alone; hence, there was the need to partner with a reliable company that has the required resources and the needed technical know-how to make the project a huge success.