THE Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, NOTN on Tuesday, July 24, in Abuja, launched the Nigerian Coalition of Services Industries, NCSI, with the strong support of private sector market operators, regulators and competent authorities.

The NCSI will function as a lobby group to support trade in services; validate services priorities for Nigeria; and, formulate inputs and advice on positions for Nigeria in domestic, regional, continental and multilateral trade negotiations.  The NCIS will identify measures for improving Nigeria’s competitiveness for Trade in Services.  The NCIS shall act as the private sector and Competent Authority foundation to support the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, NOTN, in all negotiations, with data, advice and Stakeholder positions for Trade in Services.

The inauguration of the NCSI was chaired by Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, Nigeria’s chief trade negotiator and director general, Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, NOTN.  The Launch was attended by regulators, organized private sector and services industry operators.  In the evolving structure, the NCSI will be jointly coordinated by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and chaired by the director-general of the NOTN.

In his opening remarks, Osakwe said: “The Nigerian Coalition of Services Industries was an overdue necessity to re-balance the national dialogue and exchange of views on trade and economic policy matters relevant to diversification, and accelerating recovery and growth”.   

He told the meeting that even “at the regional level, in ECOWAS there was no Schedule for Specific Commitments on Trade in Services”.  This was a gap that required urgent filling, more so because services accounted for approximately 54 percent of the Nigerian economy”.  He said “Trade in Services was not only the fastest-growing area of the domestic but also the global economy.  Services would contribute to the diversification and re-balancing of the Nigerian Economy”.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, the Nigerian Services Sector contributes 54.3% to Nigeria’s GDP.  In the Economic Recovery Growth Plan, ERGP, the role of the Services sector in Nigeria’s economic recovery and growth was prioritized around four Service sectors: telecommunication; information and communication technology; tourism; as well as financial and creative industries.  It is envisaged that these sectors would contribute to diversifying the Nigerian economy away from over dependence on oil.

The Launch of the NCSI initiated the process of examining an updated and 21^st Century Draft Schedule of Specific Commitments for Trade in Services that would signal Nigeria as pro-trade and business, pro-investment, development- and, rules-based. Participants at the inaugural meeting welcomed the establishment of the NCIS as a positive and overdue development in a critical but undervalued sector of the economy.

Membership of the Nigerian Services Coalition will include representatives of: Operators: Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Nigerian Medical Association, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture , Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises , Nurses and Midwives Association of Nigeria, Movie Producers Association of Nigeria, Association of Movie and Film Producers of Nigeria, and other individual operators as would be identified.

Regulators: Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, Federal Ministry Education, Federal Ministry of Transport, Nigeria Shippers Council, Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Nigerian Communication Commission, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, and other Government Agencies as may be identified.

– Jul. 26, 2018 @ 19:12 GMT |