WTC ABUJA WEBINAR SERIES ON NIGERIA TRADE

NIGERIA TRADE COMPETITIVENESS; IMPERATIVE FOR GROWTH

TIME: 4: 00 p.m.  - 6: 00 p.m.  WAT

VENUE: Virtual (Microsoft Teams)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo CON - Honorable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment

PANELISTS: Prince Adetokunbo Kayode SAN - Vice President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).

Professor Adesoji Adesugba - Managing Director/CEO of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).

Ms. Oyin Solebo - Managing Director, Arm Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator.

Professor Jonathan Aremu - Professor of International Economic Relations at the Covenant University.

Dr. Ezra Yakusak - Executive Director/CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

Dr. Miriam Onyebujoh, PhD, MBA, MA - Youth Skills Development Consultant.

Trade is adjudged as a vehicle of globalization and an enhancer of competitiveness. Competitiveness has therefore become synonymous with the measure of the performance or the growth potentials of a nation’s economy, the competitiveness of its developmental projects, its long-term growth and economic prosperity.  According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) index, Nigeria ranked 148th globally in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (current US dollars), 50th in terms of total exports, 48th in terms of total imports, and 125th in terms of economic complexity in 2020.  Even with perceived improvements in terms of trade and global interactions, Nigeria is still far off the mark with regard to the visible impact on the nation’s wellbeing.

To change the country's dismal narrative, it is imperative to build a robust trade ecosystem that will improve trade facilitation, terms and agreements, and volume. However, the present system tends to be burdensome on the economy due to its unfavorable tax regime, heavy debt burden, poor understanding of trade mechanics and other macro-economic indices. Currently, the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio seems to be healthy from the government perspective, however, in considering the private sector lens, this ratio is not sustainable. Over the years, Nigeria’s trade agreement performance has been poor while that of some African Nations are rated highly especially, Kenya and Rwanda due to their tremendous effort to diversify and grow their export and production base. Nigeria, on the other hand, records poor performance in implementing Agreements such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

To turn around and sustain the future growth of Nigeria’s production base and export, there is a need to drive agenda that would improve our competitiveness in trade, reduce the burden of tax on manufacturers and produce more goods that will compete favorably in the international market This will in turn gross more revenue, connect to businesses, and create value. At the same time, development of the non-oil sector such as agriculture, property development and manufacturing amongst others should be given priority attention in order to improve earnings for both the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy.