By Abubakar Yunusa
Bassey Essien, lead consultant for the World International Economic Group (WIEG) investment summit, says lack of investment readiness and poor compliance with financier standards are major factors limiting Nigerian businesses’ access to funding.
Essien spoke over the weekend at a pre-summit press conference ahead of the WIEG investment summit scheduled to hold in Nigeria on February 25 and 26.
He said despite various government policies and interventions, micro, small, medium and large-scale enterprises — including cooperatives, and women-led businesses — continue to struggle to access structural funding needed to scale.
The lead consultant said there are also gaps in investment readiness and compliance among enterprises.
According to Essien, many enterprises are not ready to invest in professional advisory services that help them develop bankable feasibility studies and documentation that meet the requirements of financiers.
“This is a major problem in Nigeria, and that is why many businesses across every sector cannot access funding,” he said.
“The businesses that are doing well are those that invest heavily in preparing their documentation before they ever interface with investors.
“That is why they keep getting bigger. They prepare to the level of matching the requirements of institutions like the African Development Bank or first-class Nigerian banks.”
The WIEG representative also pointed to fragmented engagement between policymakers, investors and market actors, noting that frequent policy changes create uncertainty and disrupt business planning.
“A lot of times, policies are not too clear. Before you adjust, a new government comes with new policies. This affects everyone, big or small,” Essien said.
He added that weak post-intervention tracking by government also limits the effectiveness of economic policies.
The lead consultant said the WIEG investment summit is designed to address the challenges by bringing together policymakers, private capital and investment-ready enterprises in a structured, results-driven engagement.
Essien said MSMEs, and cooperatives across different sectors have been pre-screened to participate in the summit’s deal-making sessions, with focus areas including the creative industry, agriculture, energy, finance and aviation.
On the creative sector, he said it contributes about 2.5 percent to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) and plays a critical role in projecting Nigeria’s image globally through music, fashion and film.
“This sector brings people joy and employs a lot of Nigerians. There will be interventions revolving for this sector to further take it higher, so that new talents, new ideas in music, in fashion, in movies can be funded,” he said.
He added that energy transition is another priority area, citing renewable energy projects already improving power supply in parts of the country.
The lead consultant also highlighted opportunities in aviation, particularly the absence of a commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Nigeria.
“Our airlines fly aircraft overseas for maintenance and pay humongous sums. That is partly why we pay high airfares. With the right partnerships, we can establish an MRO that will serve our airline industry and drive down costs,” Essien said.
He said sector-specific roundtables will be held during the deal-making session, allowing investors to engage directly with business promoters who have bankable proposals.
Beyond the summit, Essien said WIEG will track deals to monitor progress, address bottlenecks and support implementation, with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) serving as an institutional supporter.
