Abuja, Nigeria: Nigeria and the United Kingdom have reached a historic milestone in bilateral trade, with total trade value soaring to ₦16 trillion (7.9 billion pounds), the highest ever recorded between the two nations.
British High Commissioner Richard Montgomery made this known in an interview with the journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.
He lauded the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP), which he said boosts trade relations by removing non-tariff trade and investment barriers to foster cooperation in priority sectors.
According to him, the ETIP, which also promotes collaboration with the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), would scale the trade value by providing generous trading terms and tariff reductions on Nigerian products.
“So I’m really delighted at our most recent trade figures. The trade between the UK and Nigeria has reached a record high of 7.9 billion pounds or 16 trillion Naira. And so it’s a very positive trajectory.
“The enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) is exciting because it’s a mutually agreed set of sectors and issues on which the UK and Nigerian governments are going to work.
“It’s happening under the umbrella of our respective ministers, the federal minister of industry, investment and trade, and the UK business and trade minister,” he said.
He added: “The exciting thing about ETIP is, and you’ve used the word leverage, that’s precisely right.
“It identifies through mutual agreement the areas that the UK feels it has a comparative advantage in and the areas that Nigeria wants to create more economic opportunities in.”
Montgomery said the UK was not competitive in all sectors, but has significant advantages in various sectors, including financial services, new technology, financial technology, artificial intelligence and other digital platforms.
The British envoy noted that his country’s creative economy offers advanced manufacturing and energy solutions, both of which are worth examining and credible in the Nigerian context.
He noted that the UK is investing significantly in higher education and the agricultural sector in Nigeria, aiming to boost the country’s agricultural exports due to its high potential.
“So, the ETIP identifies these priorities, and we have ways of following up in each sector with the businesses and the government agencies on both sides that can unlock more investment and growth.
“The aim is mutual growth, it’s creating jobs in both our countries, and that’s why we must realise that ETIP is mutually agreed and negotiated, it’s in both our interests,” he added.
