The Federal Government on Wednesday unveiled the criteria to be used in the selection of the top 100 companies in Nigeria.
The top 100 companies award, which is the first in the history of the country, is a brainchild of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The award, scheduled to hold on December 1, is aimed at encouraging highly performing companies to further contribute to the economy in more significant ways.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on the criteria for the award, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, listed some of the criteria to be used in assessing the companies to include turnover, level of investment in the country, and number of jobs so far created in the economy.
Others are the impact that these companies have had in the communities where they operate, level of corporate governance and the amount of investments they intend to make in the nearest future.
He said, “Nigeria is filled with great companies and we are going to be using objective and veritable criteria to assess these companies.
“Some of the criteria we are using are turnover, the level of investments, number of jobs created, the value they have created in the communities where they operate.
“Its going to be very objective because we have sought names from the Corporate Affairs Commission,the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Stock Exchange, and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.”
The minister, who ruled out talks going the rounds that the award was politically motivated, added that as the biggest economy in Africa, such an award had become inevitable.
He said, “Over the last 10 years, Nigeria has been among the fastest growing economy in the world and we will continue to be among the fastest growing within the next 10 years.
“Over the last three years, Nigeria has attracted more Foreign Direct Investment than any other country in Africa.
“Under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented interest by investors and we are proud of this achievement.
“Since the private sector companies are creating wealth and jobs for the economy , they should be honoured for believing and investing in Nigeria and we will be using this event to rebrand these companies.”
He assured that the 100 companies to be awarded would have a good mix of both local and foreign business ventures.
