FDI: India invests $4.5b in Nigeria

by Emmanuel Okubenji

The Indian High Commissioner, Mahesh Sachdev has said that Nigeria got over $4.5 billion investment from Indian investors last year. Sachdev who said this yesterday in Abuja said that other initiatives were in place in Benin, Cameroon and Chad.

He said the development was part of efforts to improve ties between India and West African countries.

One of the major investments in Nigeria by Indian firms last year was a plant that would produce $2.4 million worth of fertilizer. The Indorama PET plant which was commissioned last year by Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, is owned by the Nagarjuna Corporation. The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant would also pave way for the establishment of $120 million primary alcohol plant. PET is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family used in synthetic fibre and manufacture of beverage, food and other liquid containers.

The Indorama PET plant will produce 86,000 tonnes in the first phase, which will effectively satisfy the country’s 50,000 tonne domestic market requirement, while the rest will be exported. This will move Nigeria from a net importer of PET resins to a net exporter of the product.

Sachdev also revealed that Indian exports to Nigeria had over nine per cent increment, adding that the country is likely to remain Nigeria’s second largest trading partner in 2012.

“Nigeria, nevertheless, still has a hefty trade surplus. India is likely to remain Nigeria’s second largest trading partner in 2012, but the gap from the first -the US – is continuing to shrink rapidly.”

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