Dr Chima Imoh

Nigeria: Politics and Policies for National Development Dr Chima Imoh

Decades after the advent of the much-acclaimed globalization, huge differences still exist in levels of development among nations. Some nations that should attract foreign capital and investments have failed even when they possess high potentials for growth and development. This is because, organizations and investors wishing to invest in a country are always concerned about such issues as the political, economic, and regulatory conditions that underscore the repatriation of profits, the risks of political instability, as well as the fiscal policies of the country. A new entrant to a foreign market, therefore, has to understand the potential threats to market growth, as well as the general business environment. Although, the effects of globalization on the fledging economies of the developing nations have been subject of intense debates; less contentious are the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the developing economies. Most countries in the sub-Saharan Africa have not been successful in attracting foreign investment; and when some of these countries do attract foreign investors, they do so mostly only in the areas of their mineral resources as is the case with Nigeria. Examining national development as it pertains to Nigeria entails exploring such issues as the internal constraints to development; the trends of the flow of foreign direct investments into Nigeria, as well as the underlying constraints to FDI inflows to the country. Arguments have, however, been made that the inflow of FDI into such Sub-Saharan African countries as Nigeria has not created the anticipated benefits of economic growth; nor the transfer for technology and managerial skills. Some scholars have posited that the reason is that such conditions as higher-level economic and human capital development must be in place before the benefits of FDI are derivable. Public policies have been used as tools for the positioning of national economies into the global supply chain. Some governments in the Sub-Saharan Africa have achieved meaningful outcomes; positioning themselves into global supply chain by setting up Free Trade Zones (FTZ) and Export Processing Zones (EPZ) along the coastal cities in the region. In this book, the focus will be on showing that a combination of favorable investment climates and high level of human capital are required to attract interest of investors. The book, therefore, seeks to examine the linkage between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and the public policy environment in Nigeria.