"Nigeria: Back on Track", Mustafa Bello
www.nipc-nigeria.org

“After years of military dictatorship, Nigerians feel that they are experiencing a renaissance under the civilian administration of President Obasanjo. The government recently passed an anti-corruption act and is moving to relax state control over business. No one denies that there is a long way to go but there are significant positive improvements. GDP reached 3.91% in 2001, the fastest growth since 1991, up from 3.83% in 2000” said Mustafa Bello when he was the Nigeria's Minister of Commerce.

He went on to say “The aim is to grow the economy at least 7% a year by investing in agriculture and agro-business. Inflation dropped to 17.4% in November from 19.3% in October. Unemployment is still high at around 16% –mostly because GDP over the last decade has barely matched population growth – but the government is determined to see it drop below 10%. Electric power production, which had dropped to below 1,500 megawatts in 1999, is now around 4,000 megawatts. More towns and villages are now receiving electricity. Telecommunications have undergone a boom, with cell phones now readily accessible to businesses. NITEL, the state-owned monopoly, was privatized early last year for US$ 1.3 billion. The rural telecommunications market is also open to foreign investors. A long-term goal is to reduce the dependence on crude oil to 70% of exports within the next five years through investment in agriculture and new industry”
 
Answering questions that shipping material can still be a nightmare, Mustafa Bello said that plans are under way to privatize at least part of the port. Another solution is inland "dry ports". Goods are immediately shipped to inland depots and then undergo customs processing. The government is also establishing free ports which allow material to be shipped into the country and warehoused until needed.

Engr. Alhaji Mustafa Bello FNSE,

the Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and former Minister of Commerce.

Personal Profile:
1978, BSc in Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering ABU, Samaru, Zaria. 1978-79, National Service (NYSC), Lagos State; 1980-83, Senior Civil Engineer, Niger State Housing Corporation, Minna; 1988-91, Chairman, Niger State Housing Corporation; 1988-92, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Musty Group of Companies, Minna; 1993, Managing Director, Prime Pipes & Plastics, Kontagora; 1994, Member, Niger State Water and Sanitation Board, Niger State Scholarship Board; 1995-96, Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Niger State Chapter; 1997, Chairman, Caretaker Committee, DPN Niger State; 1999, Cabinet Minister. Member: American Concrete Institute; Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria. Associate Member, The Institute of Civil Engineers. Fellow, Nigerian Society of Engineers. Interests: hockey, athletics, jogging. Recipient of awards...MORE >>

The NIPC boss said that a sector-by-sector study was being conducted to determine the actual FDI flow which was mostly in the petroleum sector. Other sectors include the telecommunications and power. According to him, the difficulty in ascertaining the exact figures was because the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) had not performed to expectation due to poor funding.

Bello, however, said that government was “turning around” the office to ensure that it discharged its duties responsibly. The executive secretary said the forthcoming NIGERIA - ASIA BUSINESS and INVESTMENT FORUM (BIF) is to sensitize stakeholders at the state level on their role as investment promoters, to ensure that stakeholders understood the subject matter and to promote healthy trade relations between Nigeria and Asia.

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has been working on a project known as the “Wealthy Nigerians Initiative (WNI). The aim is to identify wealthy Nigerians at home and abroad, with a view to encouraging them to set up businesses and industries in the country. The Development and revamping of the NIPC website is another major improvement the Commission has undertaken. The new website at www.nipc-nigeria.org is e-commerce ready, and have such features to help reduce 419 scams that give negative impression about Nigerian Businesses. Legitimate Nigerian Business can now apply to be certified by NIPC and information about the company will be provided after verification by the Commission. Nigerian Companies that are not listed on the NIPC site will be deemed not reliable for business.

To further address the issue of 419 Scam, the NIPC is encouraging the use of Software to Nab Net Scammers via e-mail known as the 419 advance fee fraud.
 

“The software is expected to identify keywords used in e-mails and is likely to be made available to internet service providers and government departments” said Mustafa Bello, executive secretary of the Nigerian investment promotion commission.

"The introduction of new software, currently under discussion within the Nigerian parliament, will scan e-mails originating in Nigeria to look for keywords commonly found, especially relating to banking. This will then be removed from the system and even traced back to where it originated, [to] allow police to arrest the culprit," he said.

The e-mail scams, often from "the widow of an African dictator" or a "bank official", promise untold wealth in return for helping to transfer millions of dollars out of Africa. Many originate in Nigeria. Victims of the scam have lost tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases been attacked and robbed. They frequently fail to report their losses to the police out of shame and because they have been planning to act illegally.

The 419 scam -- named after the section in Nigeria's criminal code on fraud -- works on a simple principle: the victim is kept on the hook for as long as possible, paying money, with the carrot of a huge return at the end. The cash never materialises and the scammer eventually disappears into thin air. In some cases, victims are lured into a trap, kidnapped and held hostage for ransom.