The Nigerian-British trade investments relationship, which is over 100 years old, is still largely untapped, in spite of the avalanche of business opportunities that abound in Nigeria and Britain.
President of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Adeyemi Adefulu who disclosed this in Lagos blamed the situation on weak government bilateral policies that exists between Nigeria and other countries. He equally attributed it to the get-rich syndrome of most Nigerians, which he said, has resulted in loss of value services.
Adefulu said with the right policies in place, products and services should be moving daily between the two countries.
He stated that the trade between Nigeria and Britain, which grew to £8 billion (N2.1 trillion) from £4 billion (N1.04 trillion) in the last four years, has the potential to hit £20 billion (N5.2 trillion) within the next six years, if governments of the two countries remain proactive and encourage each other in business.
Adefulu said Nigeria has a lot to export to Britain, but expressed regret over the current situation where there are more imports from Britain to Nigeria, than exports from Nigeria to Britain, despite the bilateral trade relationship that exists between both countries.
He said before now cocoa, rubber and palm oil produce used to be the major exports of Nigeria, and called on government to reposition the value system of the Nigerian citizens.
According to him, it is the responsibility of government to create and nurture an enabling environment that would attract foreign investment and encourage export of Nigerian goods.
“We at the NBCC stand as the facilitator of trade between Nigeria and Britain for the mutual benefit of both countries. We represent the best of each to the other and we now partner the United Kingdom Trade and Investments (UKTI) Agency and encourage the import of value enhancing products to Nigeria from Britain, which will help value creation and processing of our local products,” Adefulu said.
Vice President of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Dapo Adelegan said: “For Nigeria, the key to winning is the right policies, encouraging export of non-oil products. It must also accord priority attention to the provision of critical infrastructure that will enable businesses to grow and remove undue costs.”
Speaking on the planned Centenary celebration, Adefulu said it would start with a centenary lecture in Lagos that would be delivered by a senior member of the British cabinet and that special tributes would be paid to individuals and organisations that have continuously nurtured the Anglo-Nigerian economic relationship.
Author: Chief Editor
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