Nigeria, other African countries tasked to increase trade among one another

The President of the Confederation Generale des Endes Entreprises du Maroc(CGEM), Miriem Benslah, has said that the African continent needs to form more intra-partnerships to grow the economy of the continent.

Speaking on the sidelines of a business meeting organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)  and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday, Benslah urged the room of Moroccan and Nigerian business delegates to forge more bilateral trade arrangements within Africa; adding that the paltry 3% trade investments made within the continent signals that there are low hanging fruits.

‘’Our continent is the least integrated continent in the world’’, Benslah said.

‘’Only 3% of our trade are made within; intra continental, which is very very low’’

She explained that despite the recession, Nigeria still remained the largest economy in Africa owning to the large population and the drive of the teeming youths and entrepreneurial spirit of the country.

These were points to be leveraged on for Morocco as a developing economy and necessitated in the visit with the government and private sector participants in the country.

She said that to thrive, African nations need to trust each other to grow one other and there are a number of sectors that can be leveraged to drive trade.

Asides current investments in agribusiness, Benslah says Morocco seeks to secure more investments in renewable energy, agriculture, tourism, ICT while urging the government and private sector to invest in the Moroccan economy as well in the automotive, ICT and tourism sectors.

Currently, the value of trade investments between both countries stands as $100million in goods and services with no added value chain.

Benslah believes that, as a start, African countries need to make it easier by way of trade regimes and policies, to do business with each other.

She explained that trade regimes and tax agreements had to be softened more than anything else to promote the economic growth of the continent. She highlighted the issue of connectivity and creating more flexible transportation channels that facilitate trade within Africa as these would expand output and the economic growth of the continent.

At its 169th position on the 2017 World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, and with foreign exchange liquidity challenges, Director General, LCCI, Muda Lawal assured that the organisation is working with the government to implement policies to protect and promote foreign investments in Nigeria.

Consolidating the comments earlier made by the CGEM President, Lawal stressed the urgency of the government to better the ease of doing business currently in the country.

According to him, presently, it is easier to import goods than to export them. To import, he says, one will need 23 signatures from 18 agencies, and to export, as many signatures from 25 different agencies.

He explained that trade was already going on smoothly with countries like Ghana and other member states of ECOWAS. He assured that the LCCI would do all in their power to boost intra African relationships of the country to expand economic growth.

He also explained that most African countries were producing raw materials that the country was spending a lot of its foreign reserves exporting. Partnering with these countries would therefore not only ensure the growth of the foreign reserves but boost the manufacturing sector as well.

Nigeria targets to climb the ranks of the Ease of Doing Business Index to 10th position by 2020, the 2017 rankings by the World Bank, show that the country is 159 spots away from this target with three years left on the clock.

To achieve the target, according to Lawal, the Federal government intends to improve tax agreements, de-risk the energy sector and embark on capital projects to bridge the country’s infrastructure deficit.