Fed Govt urges more French investment to tackle joblessness

THE Federal Government has requested for more foreign direct investments from France to create more employment opportunities in the country.

Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige made this request while receiving the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mrs. Emmanuelle Blatmann and other top French embassy officials.

Commending the quantum of French investment already existing in Nigeria, Ngige appealed to France to do more to boost employment in the country.

The minister, who blamed unemployment for the deteriorating security situation in the African region, said a lot of work needed to be done for people to have jobs.

He invited the French Development Agency (AFD) to work with the Skills Development Department in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the area of vocational training.

Ambassador Blatmann said they came to seek more areas of cooperation with Nigeria in the area of investment, education and vocational training.The envoy said she brought her team to see how the bilateral relations between Nigeria and France could be extended to the Labour and Employment Ministry.

She said: “The youths are our main target. Our President is a youth. He believes that the fortune of the African continent lies in the youths. He lived in Lagos and Abuja.

“We have political, cultural and consular presence in Nigeria. We have about 80 French companies that invested here, employing more than 10,000 Nigerians. We are engaged in educational training programmes, job creation and thereby, participating in the economic growth of Nigeria.

“Our stock investment in Nigeria is worth about ten billion euros. It is far higher than our entire investment in all the French speaking African countries.”She said France sees enormous investment potentials in Nigeria and therefore, wants to participate in her economic development, adding that their investment in Nigeria cuts across the pharmaceuticals, insurance, agriculture and agribusiness.