Swiss government buys only crude oil from Nigeria –Envoy

Swiss Consul-General in Lagos, Nicolet-Dit- Felix Yves, said it is only crude oil his country buys from Nigeria. He also said Switzerland direct investments in Nigeria’s economy amounted to $300 million and generated about 4,000 direct employments as at March this year.He disclosed this in Lagos at a meeting ahead of the forthcoming 2nd African Development Investment Convention slated for Switzerland in October. The meeting was organised for prospective participants by the African Development Investment Partnership, AFIDEP, in conjunction with Sidi Osho Foundation (SOF), both not for- profit making organisations.The envoy said apart from the direct investment, majority of them including Nestle are located in Lagos, adding that his country also exports machinery, pharmaceutical and other chemical products, and textiles, among others to Nigeria. He said Switzerland’s bilateral economic relations with Nigeria over the years was not only strong but becoming stronger by the day and that his country was willing to invest more in Nigeria while at the same time would gladly receive Nigerian investors into his country.He gave the statistics of crude oil importation by his country from Nigeria which represents total importation from Nigeria in the last three years as 98.8 per cent, 96.9 per cent and 99.2 per cent, respectively, noting that he could not say categorically whether his country would have imported additional items from Nigeria or not.Executive Director of the African Development Investment Partnership, AFIDEP, Dr. Dayo Ogunsola, said there was ample untapped investment opportunities in Nigeria that would not only generate good income and great number of jobs for Nigerians but would also address poverty and security challenges in the land.He said such opportunities abound across sectors of the economy like dairy industry, urging Nigerians, especially in the private sector to take advantage of the forthcoming Swiss Convention to grow and develop their businesses and create wealth for themselves and for the nation.Corroborating him, the founder of Sidi Osho Foundation, who is also the former Vice-Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Prof. Sidi Osho, said the current economic reality in the country had shown that it was the private sector that could meaningfully drive the economy to a greater height. She, therefore, urged all the small and medium scale business owners to be proactive and more creative in their businesses notwithstanding the unfavourable investment climate in the country.