President Tinubu's next stop on his tour of the Americas is Brazil. He should refuse to leave the country until they sign a commitment that their aircraft manufacturing giant Embraer will open a factory in Nigeria

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Unlike many Nigerians, I am in full support of the president acting as a roving ambassador, travelling the globe, seeking to attract investment into the country. Take St Lucia for instance, it is an offshore banking haven and I am sure the likes of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerbrg, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, etc, all have billions stashed there. I would consider it a result if President Tinubu could get the bankers there to invest $20bn of the portfolios they are sitting on in the Nigerian economy

[2] As a people, we simply do not appear to get it but the fact remains that even if you are the greatest magician on earth as Nigeria’s president, there is no way he could make a paltry gross domestic product (GDP) of $400bn stretch to cater for 200m people. Attracting foreign direct investment is one of the main jobs of Nigeria's president

[3] To live at ease with ourselves, Nigeria needs an annual GDP of at least $2trn. To achieve this, we desperately needs to start manufacturing finished goods and exporting them. This will not only bring in export revenue but it will create jobs, save foreign exchange and expand our pathetic mono-economy which is wholly dependent on crude oil at the moment

[4] Nigeria needs to start attracting the likes of Boeing, Embraer, Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Bombardier to come and open mega manufacturing facilities in the country as they are doing in other economies like Brazil, China, India, New Zealand, etc. Awa Lokan!

[5] Do you know that Africa as a whole only accounts for 1% of global manufacturing despite having 18% of the world's population? That kind of lopsided arrangement is simply not sustainable and is a certain harbinger of terrorist insurgencies, wars and upheaval, as people fight for scarce resources

[6] Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer can help kickstart the African fightback by opening a manufacturing facility in Nigeria that would serve as a genuine global production site. Maybe they could start off with a factory in Calabar that for now manufactures for the African market. It can then expand and become a global facility as more revenue comes in on the back of increased orders

[7] Founded in 1969 by the Brazilian government as a national champion for domestic aerospace technology, Embraer is the third largest producer of civil aircraft worldwide after Boeing and Airbus. Embraer was sold to private investors on December 7, 1994, with the Brazilian government retaining an interest through possession of golden shares, which give it a veto. This means we can get the Brazilian government to intervene here

[8] I see no reason why Embraer cannot come and open a manufacturing facility in Nigeria where production costs are lower than Brazil. If anything, a Nigerian plant would increase the company's profitability

[9] Let me just give you an example of how this will work. Today, Boeing India has 4,000 employees, and more than 7,000 people who work on dedicated supply chain jobs with local suppliers across manufacturing, engineering and IT sectors. Can someone please explain to me why a similar arrangement cannot work between Embraer and Nigeria?

[10] Just before Covid-19 struck, Boeing entered into a deal with the Brazilian aerospace company, Embraer to form a joint venture. This pact was to see Boeing take control of Embraer’s commercial jet business, expanding the US firm’s stake in the smaller passenger plane market. As part of the deal, Boeing would acquire 80% of Embraer’s commercial aircraft and services unit said to be worth $4.75bn, at a cost of about $3.8bn. However, the pandemic put paid to that deal. I see no reason why President Tinubu should not be pushing for its revival under the terms that these new Embraer aircraft will be manufactured under a Boeing licence in Nigeria

ayoakinfe@gmail.com