Fix Security Challenges, Pass NHIS Into Law To Attract More Investments – Elumelu

The Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Tony Elumelu, has called on the Federal Government and key policymakers to urgently address security challenges and hasten the passage of the National Health Insurance Scheme into law to attract more investments into the country.

Elumelu, who is also the Chairman, Heirs Holdings, and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), gave this submission in his remarks during a one-day Investors Webinar, Organised by the Bureau of Public Enterprises in collaboration with the Nigerian Exchange Group and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission on Tuesday.

While emphasising that with the right business climate, returns on Investment in Nigeria remains unmatched, Elumelu said, “There is nowhere else that you can get the kind of Returns on Investment that you get in Nigeria, especially in some of the critical sectors like power,” and explained that dealing with the oil theft solution in the Niger-Delta, and passing the NHIS into law will go a long way towards stabilising the economy and making the investment climate more attractive thus driving more investments into the Nigerian economy in line with the Federal Government’s drive.

Elumelu said, “In the oil and gas space, we have security issues, oil theft is real. We have two huge transmission pipelines in the Niger-Delta: NCTCL and MPTL lines and oil theft has accounted for a loss of N206bn in theft in four months. Average monthly theft is about N52bn and if we calculate for the year, we will be talking about N620bn loss to theft. We need to fix the security issue. It is also a way to encourage more investment.”

Continuing, he said, “There is also the need to revisit the National Health Insurance Scheme. As at now, less than 5% of our people – that is 200 million people have access to health insurance in Nigeria. Just an enactment, a law, an act, will correct this, and we will see how this will lead to effective demand in healthcare delivery. The truth is that even if you have the infrastructure, but the demand for healthcare is ineffective, there is a limit to how the infrastructure you put in place will work. It will not be self-sustainable. We need to call on our NASS to pass the NHIS into law. Revise it so that we begin to enjoy the benefits. The pandemic has shown us that Health is Wealth, so this is critical.”

In his capacity as a major investor in the Nigerian economy, Elumelu took time to enumerate the opportunities and challenges of operating several businesses in Nigeria, adding that the opportunities far outweigh the challenges. “I am privileged to be the Group  Chairman of UBA which is a business that was started here in Nigeria and today operates in 20 African countries serving over 25 million customers and with over 1,000 branches across the continent, with presence in London, Paris and the only money taking Nigerian bank in the USA. If the Nigerian business environment was not supportive, we will not be where we are today,” he pointed out.

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