From Uche Usim, Abuja

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As Nigeria grapples with recession, a new investment window seemed to have opened in mining and power sectors with Swedish investors showing sufficient interest.
Consequently, a delegation of Swedish companies on Tuesday stormed the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance looking for investment opportunities in critical sectors of the economy.
The delegation, led by Swedish Minister of Trade and European Union Affairs, Mrs. Ann Linde, said they came to pave way for the country to benefit from the array of investors interested in the long term in the country.
She said the investors are indicating interest in providing ICT solution, power, financial services, transport, mining and health services in Nigeria. The list of the Swedish businesses involved are Ignitia, Okpabi Finance, Hemocue and financial institutions Swedish Exports Credit Guarantee Board and SEK Swebank.
“The delegation wants to know what measures the government is taking to tackle the current recession and what are its longer term plans for financial stability in the economy. A brief presentation on Nigeria’s challenges and general information will boost investor confidence,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, said the government was determined to quickly revamp the economy.
He said the main strategy to doing this and taking the country out of recession was diversification of the economy.
“Despite the shock of the dwindling oil prices, the Federal Government is determined to absorb the shock of oil prices.
“We are currently focused on diversifying the economy by improving investments in key sectors with potential to create jobs and have other multiplier effects in the economy.
“So this government has introduced programmes to improve the agriculture, manufacturing and mining sectors, among others. We are working assiduously to fix the entire value chain,” he said.
Isa-Dutse talked about the challenges of vandalism in the Niger Delta and the Boko Haram menace, which continue to impact negatively on government revenues.