The Nigerian government is looking forward to strengthening a mutually beneficial relationship with Spain, which will aid the inflow of investments and provide technology and security assistance in core sectors of the economy.
Minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva while receiving delegates from Spain, including the Spanish minister of foreign affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, said Spain is a strategic partner that can bring much-needed investments and security into Nigeria.
“The oil and gas sector is at the core of our economy and we are focused on the development of gas so we need all the investments that we can get and some major Spanish companies have shown interest,” he said.
Sylva said Nigeria has a lot of gas resources that need to be developed which can be achieved with the presence of investors.
“We have discussed some sort of support we will require from Spain in terms of security, investments and technology, and Spain is looking to us for further supply of gas,” he said.
Similarly, Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, said to further diversify Nigeria’s economy, there is a need for increased trade with Spain.
“We are very close and deep economic partners, Nigeria is one of the primary suppliers of oil, gas and petroleum to Spain but we want to diversify our economic cooperation, Spain is a big player in the global space so we want to see increased trade,” he said.
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Speaking on the nation’s security, Onyeama pointed out that Nigeria is also delighted with the cooperation that they have in addressing insurgency and terrorism, in the Sahel and part of Africa.
The minister assured Spain of the Federal Government’s commitment to partner with the global community, the UN and the European Union, to address definitively the security challenges they are facing in the sub-region.
In his address, Jose Manuel Albares, Spanish minister of foreign affairs, said that the cooperation between Nigeria and Spain is very important especially for agriculture and maritime.
“The economic field and cooperation is the absolute centre of our relationship, we are one of Nigeria’s best clients and have been one of the largest clients in gas and petroleum for a long time, and we want to strengthen that relationship,” he said.
The Spanish minister commended the efforts of the Federal Government in curbing insecurity, stating that it is ready to extend a helping hand to address the root causes of insecurity.
