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Nigeria, Belgium strengthen trade ties

By on June 4, 2014

Nigeria is in the process of a bilateral trade and investment enhancement with Belgium, in a bid to open up more areas of investment in the Nigerian agricultural and manufacturing sector, the Ambassador of Nigeria to Belgium, Mr. Felix Awanbor, said Monday.

Awanbor, who led a group of Belgian investors  to the country, said the trade mission is coming at a good time when the nation is ranked the largest economy in Africa.
He said the  mission intends to explore more areas of business and investment, towards creating ample employment opportunities for Nigeria’s teeming unemployed youths.

“The Nigerian government is willing to give support to economic and trade missions coming into the country that would evolve into new businesses and investments. Belgium has achieved a lot of successes in terms of technology, agriculture, food processing and packaging production and we believe Nigeria has a lot to learn from Belgium in terms of  animal husbandry, mechanised farming and the likes,” he said.

According to him, the trade mission will open up more room for more business in Nigeria thereby creating employment. It will also help to enhance backward and forward integration activities within the economy.

Also speaking at the event, the Ambassador, Embassy of Belgium in Nigeria, Mr. Dirk Verheyen, said the trade mission with about 60 delegates from Belgium is aimed at promoting investment and trade between both countries.

“Belgium, through the Antwerp port, is one of the major European exporters to Nigeria and we export more than two billion Euro worth of goods annually and this trade mission will be a win-win situation. It is vital for Nigerian companies to discover the possibilities of Antwerp as an import hub for the nation,” he said.

He said Nigeria is the fifth trading partner with Belgium, stressing that  Belgium is planning to make Nigeria the first with the mission.
He noted that the  visit to Nigeria would create lots of investment opportunities for both countries.

The Executive Committee Member, Advisor Financing Division, World Bank, Mr. Alexander Herring, said the mission is a multi-sectoral mission with about seven sectors represented in areas such as dredging, manufacturing, power, agro-allied, agriculture and infrastructure to mention a few.

“We are a multi-sectoral economic mission from Belgium and our members are looking for new possibilities of doing business in Nigeria  as well as exploring new partnerships and investments in Nigeria. We are looking for long term relationships and businesses because most of our members are looking for partnerships to explore other possibilities in Nigeria and to see what they can import to Belgium out of Nigeria,” he said.
He explained that “We from our chamber organise trade mission and we do one or two trade missions a year and we see the time we are coming into Nigeria is apt to look for new investments in the country.”

He noted that so far, doing businesses in Nigeria has experienced some level of improvement due to Belgian businesses thriving in the country. He, however added that  Belgian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) willing to do business in Nigeria are faced with the challenge of lack of budget and the absence of the administrative set up to follow up the paper work required to do business in Nigeria.

 

 

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