Nigeria is fully ready to host an investment and economic forum that will attract global business leaders, a senior local official said Thursday, about 13 days before the summit would kick off in oil-rich Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

The forum, which is the maiden gathering, is scheduled from July 16 to July 18.

The forum was in line with the present administration's economic blueprint of a private sector-driven economy which some foreign investors were already tapping into, the State Commissioner of Trade, Industry and Investment, Barrister Kemela Okara said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

Okara said the government was creating an enabling environment complete with adequate security, infrastructure and an investor- friendly legal framework in line with the administration's vision of making the state the Dubai of Africa.

"Our expectation is that potential investors from different parts of the world, within Nigeria and Bayelsans in the Diaspora will come and take advantage of the various opportunities that exist in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Oil and Gas, Technology, Tourism and Hospitality, and Power," he added.

Bayelsa has one of the largest crude oil and natural gas deposits in the West African country, which the top oil producer and the most populous country in the continent.