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Not minding the obvious difficult business climate, Nigeria’s trade partners are still interested in increasing their foothold in the country.

Andy Davidson, deputy director, United Kingdom Trade and Investment department in Nigeria, said though the banking crisis has hampered the growth of businesses in the country, enormous opportunity still abound for other countries to tap into.

He said his office was interested in getting more British companies to come to Nigeria and take advantage of the opportunities. He said while the UK acknowledges the rise in trade between Nigeria and China, there were still areas where British companies can still thrive.

“I don’t worry too much about competition. I worry about British companies and how they should see Nigeria. China is our competitor and we need to find a competitive advantage to compete. It’s that simple. It is a capitalist world and Nigeria is a capitalist society. We need to compete.

“The EU (European Union), the United States, China. We all need to compete together. We all have unique selling points and it is just finding those and make sure we have a level playing field,” Mr. Davidson said.

Nigeria has strong historical ties with the UK and is the country’s 33rd largest overseas market and second largest African market for goods. UK export of goods to Nigeria in 2009 was worth £1.23 while that of services was worth £1.28 billion as at 2008.

Lack of information

Speaking at the breakfast meeting of the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) yesterday in Lagos, Mr. Davidson said the major constraint to British businesses coming to Nigeria was the lack of information.

“Without that ability to have confidence and information, it is difficult for British firms to come to Nigeria,” he said.

He, however, said the perception about Nigeria was largely misplaced. “I think states are getting savvy in terms of what their potentials are. Nigeria was a bread basket 50 years ago and I don’t see why it cannot be a bread basket now.”

On Nigeria’s goal of being among the top 20 largest economies by the year 2020, he said though it is challenging, the objective is achievable.

“There is no reason why you would set a goal that is challenging and not achieve it. That is why we are here. It is going to take everybody coming together and driving it,” he further said.

Akinola Akintunde, president and chairman of council of the NBCC, said the chamber was interested in improving bilateral trade and development between both countries. In line with that, the chamber was organising a trade and an investment exposition holding at the end of the month.

“The goal of this show is to sensitise British investors on the potentials and opportunities in Nigeria. In the coming years, we expect to see increased investment in oil and gas, banking and finance, insurance, and professional services,” Mr. Akintunde said.

He further said one of the long term goals of the chamber is to improve the balance of trade between both countries, adding that as at 2009, Nigeria’s exports to UK was about $600 million.