The Bank of Industry (BOI)and the Nigeria Olympic Committee(NOC) yesterday unveiled a partnership plan to promote the investment opportunities available in Nigeria during the London Olympics holding in the United Kingdom capital next year.
At a brief but impressive ceremony held at the corporate headquarters of the bank, the chief executive officer of the BOI, Ms Evelyn Oputu and the NOC president, Engr Sani Ndanusa, gave an outline of the novel project.
Ndanusa who was excited at the partnership described the olympics as the biggest sporting event noting that it also provided a strategic platform for nations to showcase their strong points “not just in sports but in all ramifications.”
The NOC president said Nigeria would maximise the benefits of the Olympic Games next year. “To this end we have set up a Nigerian village in Surrey where the Nigerian athletes would camp before the Games.
He said that the chamber of commerce in Surrey was already prepared for the Nigerian business community “to start a relationship in diverse areas.”
In her remarks, Oputu said the BOI was also excited at the partnership. She said though Nigeria had been taking part in the olympics for long this was the first time that the Bank of Industry was seeing some level of seriousness for the Olympic Games preparation.
Oputu said the BOI involvement in the Games would be to project all the positive aspects of the country. Nigeria she said, “has so much positive parts and BOI will through this partnership help in promoting them.”
She also promised to use the Games as a platform to expand the business horizon of small and medium scale enterprises in the country. According to her: “The BOI is always trying to promote smes and some of these smes will have the opportunity to showcase what they have to offer to the global market during the Games”
Oputu added: “The project will provide jobs, expose investment opportunities and create the new image that we want for Nigeria.” She thanked the NOC leadership for picking on her bank for this first of its kind sports cum business partnership.
The logo of the Nigeria Games Village in London Olympic Games 2012 was later unveiled.
?