The epileptic power situation in Nigeria and other risk factors like wave of militancy in the Niger Delta region not withstanding, Nigeria has remained the toast of investors world-wide, Finance Minister, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman on Thursday told a gathering of world businessmen and technocrats at the 43rd yearly meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB) in Maputo, Mozambique.

Specifically, he said last year alone, Nigeria raked in as much as $13 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs), a huge leap from the below $1 billion mark in 1999 before the return of democracy in the country. Again, he declared that all indicators in Nigeria are looking up because of accelerated growth pattern which had resulted in a robust foreign reserve standing put at $60 billion as at end of last month.

Usman, who was addressing the General Assembly of ADB on developments back home as a member of the Board of Governors representing Nigeria, noted that the rush by investors to Nigeria was fuelled by the macro-economic stability the country had achieved, providing a platform for high returns on investments in return. He said: "On the economic front, the government of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has continued to pursue measures to deepen and consolidate the gains of the economic reforms embarked upon in 2003."