The Nigeria-Netherlands Bilateral Working Group (BWG) has announced that both countries need to develop more economic partnerships through trade to boost the bilateral relationship between both countries.
This was disclosed by Amb. Samson Itegboje, Co-Chair of the group, during the end of the First Nigeria-Netherlands Annual Bilateral Working Group (BWG) Meeting on Trade and Investment on Tuesday in Abuja.
The Ambassador said that Nigeria was Netherlands’ largest trading partner in Africa and the relationship should be boosted with even more trade.
He cited investment in Nigeria funded by the Dutch Development Bank, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), etc., which helped Nigerian businesses with access to finance and economic growth in areas such as Agriculture and Horticulture; Green Economic Growth, Life Sciences and Health, Youth Employment, Entrepreneurship and ICT.
The group stated that both “parties agreed to collaborate on Nigeria-Netherlands seed partnership, dairy development, export promotion process and capacity for research and knowledge exchange.”
Nigeria reiterated the need to increase the number of beneficiaries, ensure gender balance and geographical space in implementation of youth development programmes in Nigeria by the Dutch.
“Nigeria solicits support to start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),” the Ambassador said.
Participants at the meeting included Netherlands’ Ambassador, Harry Dijk; Amb. Gabriel Aduda’ from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and his Industry, Trade and Investment counterpart, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, amongst others.
What you should know
Nigeria’s total foreign trade for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 rose to N9.12 trillion, representing an increase of 8.88% compared to N8.38 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.
India accounted for 17.12% (N547.01 billion) of total merchandise exported in Q4 2020, followed by Spain with N313.38 billion (9.81%) and South Africa with N256.65 billion (8.03%). Others on the list were Netherlands with N194.5 billion (6.09%), and the United States with N170.36 billion (5.33%).