NIGERIA DECRY EXORBITANT COST OF DOING BUSINESS, HIGH NUMBER OF CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL IN EGYPT

 

Nigerians spend $35,000 to register business in Egypt — FG

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has decried the 35,000 U.S. dollars (about N19.2 million) deposit being requested by Egyptian Authority from foreigners including Nigerians to operate a business enterprise in that country.

Mohammed described the condition as unacceptable during a meeting with the Nigerian community in Cairo.

The meeting was on the sideline of a bilateral discussion with Africa Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) on how Nigeria can access funding to support its growing creative industry.

Alhaji Mohammed had led some private sector stakeholders involved in Digital Switch Over (DSO) to Afreximbank to assist them on how they can source fund to complete the wholly private sector financially driven project.

Speaking at the meeting organised by the Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt, Malam Nura Rimi, the minister said "such condition negates the unity that binds African countries together."

He, therefore, promised to take the matter up with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema and other relevant bodies upon his return to Nigeria.

The minister also decries the high number of Nigerian children out of school in Egypt owing to language barrier and non-availability of registered Nigerian schools in Cairo.

The Nigerian community had told the minister that the official language for teaching in Egypt is Arabic and the few private schools being run by the British and America in that country were exorbitant.

They said no fewer than 7,000 Nigerian children in Egypt were out of school and therefore appealed for construction of a Nigerian school in Cairo.

They also told the minister that because many of them could not afford the mandatory 35,000 dollars deposit, their businesses had been labelled illegal while they were subjected to regular harassment and arrest by Egyptian security officials.