Business Briefs
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THE Nigerian Exports Promotion Council, NEPC, and the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to increase the level of trade between the two countries. The pact will see both countries coming up with deliberate strategies to boost the level of non-oil exports owing to the decline in oil revenue, as well as boosting the volume of bilateral trade from £8 billion (N2.4 trillion) at the end of 2014 to £15 billion (N4.57 trillion) by 2020.
Olusegun Awolowo, executive secretary, NEPC, who signed the MoU on behalf of the council, said the agency had been at the forefront of diversifying the Nigerian economy, noting that this had been further reinforced by the recent decline in the prices of crude oil in the global market.
While admitting that the drop in the prices of oil had led to reduction in government revenue with pronounced negative effects on different sector of the economy, he said the NEPC had identified 13 national strategic export products to replace oil. Awolowo called for support from the chamber on how to reduce the volume of rejects of Nigerian exports, which he put at about 106 products, noting that this would further assist in increasing export revenue to the country.
On his part, Dapo Adelegan, president, NBCC, who signed on behalf of the chamber, said the partnership would assist in improving the growth trend between Nigeria and the UK. He put the volume of trade between the UK and Nigeria in 2013 at £4 billion, noting that this grew to €8 billion in 2014 and £6.7 billion within the current year. “We are targeting to grow our trade to about £15billion by 2020. Nigerians in the Diaspora are ready to invest in Nigeria,” he said.
— Jul 27, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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Tags: Dapo Adelegan Memorandum of Understanding MoU NBCC NEPC Nigerian Exports Promotion Council Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce oil Olusegun Awolowo Sign Trade Agreement
