2023: Prince Otu To Adopt Bullish Investment Approach As Governor

 

Prince Otu believes that when an economy is on its lowest ebb, its sustainable recovery prospect lies in its ability to create a balance between the inflow of quality FDIs and sufficient boost in Domestic Investments. 

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Because of the complexity of the subject matter, “investment” it is necessary for us to avail the general public with the elementary knowledge of what investment, generally, entails. In the simplest of terms, investment generally means making a current sacrifice in exchange for a future benefit or higher returns. Investment is, basically, categorized into Public and private. If Government spends on projects, mainly, but not necessarily in the fields of social and economic infrastructure, it  is referred to as public investment. Private investment refers to profit-generating ventures, projects, or investment programs made by private persons, enterprises, or corporations in fields such as direct production and sale of goods and services. Also, at any given time in an economy, an investment may be divided into domestic and foreign investments. So, both public and private investments may be owned by local or international individuals and/or governments.

Foreign Investment, most professionally known as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by economic experts, could be in form of cross-border-financial deals to facilitate the execution of projects in host societies, which is known as Foreign Public investment, or could be cross-boarder-movement of capital, technology and expertise to set-profit making multinationals in their host societies, order wise, known as Foreign Private investment. Private investment refers to profit-generating ventures, projects, or investment programmes made by  private persons, enterprises, or corporations in fields such as direct production and sale of goods and services.

In the same vein, domestic investment, which involves the internal allocation of funds to appreciable ventures, could be divided into Public and Private Domestic Investments. Domestic Public investment is government spending directed at executing appreciable projects like roads, fly-overs, Drainage systems, palliative or remedial intervention on grey infrastructures or expansion of existing ones, etc. Domestic Private investment refers to profit-generating ventures, projects, or investment programs made by “indigenous” private persons, enterprises, or corporations in fields such as direct production and sale of goods and services. 

Prince Otu believes that when an economy is on its lowest ebb, its sustainable recovery prospect lies in its ability to create a balance between the inflow of quality FDIs and sufficient boost in Domestic Investments. Available records suggests that global cross-border-investment finance deals to developing economies, which is an important source of investment and, the quality of home-grown investment, continue to slide because of certain awkward domestic policy framework.

Therefore, the Prince Otu led administration is going to adopt a very bullish (aggressive) approach to investment by  creating a sound and solid investment promotion mechanism with favourable policy framework that would open windows for cross-border-finance-deals to the state for funding of critical projects (public), and for establishment of multinationals (private), create enabling fiscal and physical environment for domestic private investments to thrive. The inflow of foreign Private investment would create a competitive environment to spur domestic private investments and breath live into the state’s domestic economy by opening channel for multiple forms of direct assistance from foreign to domestic firms, in the form of training, help with setting up production lines, management-coaching regarding strategy and financial planning, financing, assistance with quality control and introduction to export market.

Many FDIs could only be attracted on condition of the host economy raising bond to guarantee such foreign investments, but because of the current financial posture of the state that was inflicted by the fiscal indiscretion of previous administrations, Cross River State now operates on a financial frame-work that would make her fail the eligibility test before capital and debt management regimes like Securities/Exchange Commission and Debt Management Office (DMO) who have jointly declared  Cross River State insolvent.

However, there are other options the Prince Otu-led administration is going to explore to keep the state on the flip side of safety. These sensitive options shall not be divulge here until his administration begins.

By Eval Asikong

@Prince Otu Official Media