The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, on Wednesday said the Federal Government had identified 100 companies to be rewarded for contributing to the nation’s economic growth.
Aganga told newsmen in Abuja that the private sector was behind the country’s ranking as number one economy in Africa and one of the top 10 economies in the world.
According to him, over the last three years Nigeria has attracted more foreign direct investments and more local investments than any other economy in Africa.
”Earlier this year, the prestigious Wall Street Journal Frontier Market Settlement index which surveyed blue chip companies in developed economies ranked Nigeria number one country of global interest to investors.
“We are proud of these achievements because it is investors that create jobs for our people, wealth, facilitate economic growth and generate income for the government.
“Behind Nigeria’s success are real companies which do business every day. These companies create jobs, employ our people and they keep the economy growing,” he said.
The minister said that the government was aware that private investors were driving the economy, adding that “that is why we are organising the top 100 companies’ event for the first time.
“These companies have built considerable scale in Nigeria and continue to show strong commitment to invest more,” Aganga said.
He said the event had been deliberately planned to coincide with the country’s centenary celebration.
Aganga said that the 100 companies were involved in a variety of endeavours cutting across oil and gas, telecommunication, construction, food materials and others.
He said that companies that could not make the honours list would be motivated to do more in order to be recognised in subsequent editions.
He said that the companies were selected based on their level of investment, jobs created and value they added in the communities where they operate.
Aganga said the event would he held annually and expressed hope that the next edition would be more competitive than the 2014 edition.
