Renaissance Capital restates commitment to Africa’s economic growth at  opening of 10th Pan Africa investor conference

By Tola Akinmutimi

Renaissance Capital, one of the leading emerging and frontier markets investment bank globally, on Wednesday restated its commitment to sustaining value-addition investment initiatives critical to the development of Africa and by implication, sustainable growth of the economies.

Christophe Charlier, chairman of the board, along with other top management of the investment banking institution who spoke at the ‘10th Annual Pan Africa 1:1 Investor Conference’ in Lagos, noted that Africa’s investment climate was gradually improving and called on the governments
in the region to develop appropriate fiscal, monetary and other policy measures required to properly position the economies on the path of sustainable growth.

In his opening remarks at the event, Temitope Popoola, chief executive officer, Renaissance Capital Nigeria, specifically pointed out that the impending swearing in of Nigeria’s new elected leaders,
portended positive economic growth trend for the country and thereby creating opportunities for a re-jigging of the nation’s economic development policies for improved impacts.

He said: “This is the right time to begin to focus on policies that will deliver inclusive growth in the next four years. We believe that diversification from oil dependency is inevitable given how little oil
Nigeria exports per capital.

“To fully unlock Nigeria’s economic potential, some structural constraints must also be removed: adult literacy needs to improve to 70-80%, electricity consumption needs to treble and investment needs to double from 13% of GDP in 2017 to at least 25%”, Popoola added.

Commenting on the importance of the conference, the board chairman, said that “the key take-away from this conference is that investors focus too strongly on the risks, often missing the chance to turn some of the country’s challenges to viable prospects”, adding that “opportunities abound, and Renaissance Capital remains to Nigeria and West Africa which is evidenced by the firm’s growing share of market and deal pipeline.”

Earlier in her keynote address, Yetunde Sadiku, executive secretary of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to improving the nation’s investment limate as a strategic step of boosting local and foreign investments on
a sustainable basis.

Sadiku explained that given the compelling nature of Nigeria’s long-term investment benefits, investors should continue to see the country as investment haven and consistently keep Nigeria as a primary target in their investment portfolios.

While reminding investors on the primary mandate of the commission and the basis of its creation as the friend of investors in government, the Executive Secretary solicited the support of professionals, including Renaissance Capital analysts, in advocating for policy changes that are
better aligned with the expectation of investors.

The 10th anniversary investor conference, which was organized on the heels of Renaissance Capital-facilitated investor trips to Ghana and Nigeria earlier this week, availed an opportunity to underscore the importance of diversifying the Nigerian economy, highlight ways that diversification can be achieved, and restate the investment-bank’s long-term commitment to Africa.

In addition, the event also served as a platform to hear first-hand from prominent government officials, business leaders and economists in the region, alongside the investment bank analysts, who shared Africa’s insights and present high-opportunity corporate stories.