Once again, President Muhammadu Buhari is away from the country. He arrived in London yesterday to participate in the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit holding on January 20, 2020.
The good thing is that the travel is not for medical check or holiday this time around, as Mr. President always frowns at government officials travelling abroad for such issues, though he enjoys the tranquility in the UK whenever he visits.
But one may query the rationale for the summit and further ask if UK is waking up. Considering the fact that the Asian countries have almost taken over Africa, what is the essence of the summit beyond fostering bilateral relations. Even the membership of Commonwealth has not brought the ‘wealth’ to Nigeria.
At present, China and India are top among trading partners of Nigeria, while Nigeria imports the most from China, it exports the most to India.
So, if investment is to be considered, the volume of trade between two countries, the UK will not be in the picture. In 2018, China-Nigeria bilateral trade volume soared to $USD15.3 billion. The bilateral trade with China reached $8.6 billion from January to June 2019 with 20.7 percent year-on-year growth.
Also, the trade volume between India and Nigeria hit USD12 billion between April 2017 to March 2018, and is on steady increase ever since, amid bout 135 Indian companies in Nigeria.
The UK’s importance in trade in Nigeria has been sliding. Since 2000, the UK has fallen from the first largest non-oil goods exporter to Nigeria far behind the likes of China, US, India and Germany.
Similarly, the UK’s share of the foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Nigeria has declined too.
The UK’s decline can be attributed to the growing importance of China and India in global trade, and an apparent decline in the UK’s competitiveness relative to its developed economic rivals, most notably Germany.
To stimulate non-oil export and diversify the economy, the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce and the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce have been leading campaigns to further open up United Kingdom’s and United States’ markets to Nigerian non-oil exports.
But nobody is leading any campaign for the Asians. While the UK keep looking at the barriers to bilateral trade and investment such as poor business environment and low competitiveness, and that the costs of exporting to and importing from Nigeria are higher, the Asians keep taking the risks and are compensated with the flow of investments across many sectors.
So, what magic will Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, perform to grow trade and investment between the UK and Africa because the barriers they fears, which Asians did not fear, are even more today?
According to the organisers, the event is expected to bring together African leaders, international business chief executives and heads of international organisations “to create new partnerships that will deliver more investments and jobs” to the benefit of people and businesses in African countries and the United Kingdom.
According to them, “Apart from highlighting new perspectives on UK-Africa Partnership for Prosperity, issues of Sustainable Finance and Infrastructure; Trade and Investment; Future African Growth Sectors and Clean Energy and Climate, are expected to dominate presentations and discussions during the Summit.”
We look to Nigeria’s good outing in the UK-Africa Investment Summit and hope that the import of it will reflect on our economy, soonest.
