GE Attracts Foreign Investors to Nigeria

In furtherance of its overall local content drive, global infrastructure giants General Electric (GE) has attracted 3 Italian based investor-companies to Nigeria to explore partnership opportunities with indigenous Nigerian Engineering companies. The companies include Allimep, Duemme and Sime.

Their investment in Nigeria will help boost the capacity of indigenous engineering companies that will support GE’s operations in Nigeria. The move is in line with the Federal Government’s local content law which mandates that a substantial part of the operations of foreign companies in Nigeria must be localized.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Local Content Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Mr Ernest Nwakpa commended GE’s localisation initiative, which he said was flagged off by the Country-to-Company agreement which GE signed with the Federal Government to partner with other stakeholders in bridging Nigeria’s infrastructure gaps in critical sectors like Oil & Gas, Power, Transportation, Healthcare and Aviation. Nwakpa said other multinational companies had a lot to learn from GE’s holistic approach to local content. He said the visit of the Italian companies and GE’s increased investments in Nigeria was ample evidence that Nigeria was a fertile ground for foreign direct investment.

Speaking on behalf of the Italian companies, the Chief Executive Officer of Sime Engineering Mr Matteo Bertolini said they were pleasantly surprised at the technical depth of the Nigerian companies they would be partnering with in supporting GE’s facilities in the country.