Nigeria’s bilateral trade relationship with the United Kingdom (UK) is said to be worth £4.2 billion per annum.
Britain’s Minister for Africa, Harriet Baldwin, who made this known Thursday in Abuja on the sideline of the visit of the British Prime Minister, Theresa May to Nigeria, praised the trade relations between the two countries, saying that more business partnerships would be announced.
She said Britain was already partnering with Nigeria in the area of green financing, along with other partnerships with the Nigerian government, wich she said would create over 100,000 jobs in the country.
Also, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, advised investors from the UK to take advantage of the improved business environment in Nigeria to invest in key sectors of the economy.
She said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a bold step in creating an enabling business environment for attracting investments, through the establishment of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
She said government was commited to further improve on the business environment and sustain existing reforms to consolidate the gains of the economy through the deepening of the sub-national Ease of Doing Business project.
“There are lots of business opportunities in Nigeria and the government is addressing assiduously the impediments to the ease of doing business in Nigeria,” pointing out that the effort will make it easier for businesses to grow and contribute to sustainable economic activities in the country, as well as create jobs.
Mrs. Adeosun also canvassed the need for deepening the local capital market with specific products that could be channeled towards infrastructure financing, saying this will ensure that the capital market is positioned to play a pivotal role in stimulating the economy.
“We can’t have enough capital to finance infrastructure development. Deepening the capital market is key to the funding of infrastructure in Nigeria,” she said.