Sunday Williams
8 October 2008
The total trade volume between Nigeria and the Republic of China hit about N55 naira (US$472m) from January to May 2008 with Nigeria enjoying a trade surplus of US$238 million.
This was disclosed in Abuja by Dr. Ignatius I. Adaji, National President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) on the trade relationship between the two countries and West Africa sub-region.
He said trade statistics between Nigeria and China and most especially between China and West Africa Sub-region has continued to assume increasing trend since 2004 as a result of Chinese investments in the country as well as West Africa sub-region.
He said, "Trade between Nigeria and China in terms of imports and exports stood at US$290m, US$162, US$281M and US$189M respectively in 2004.The total trade volume between Nigeria and China was over US$541 million in 2007, with Nigeria enjoying a trade surplus of over US$162 million."
He said trade/investments will far surpass the figures recorded last year and may hit the billion dollar mark, if appropriate enabling environment and infrastructural support are given to businesses by the governments of both countries.
He added that presently, the China direct investment in Nigeria is in over 28 project areas, amounting to over US$250 million, while creating over 10,000 employments for Nigerians.
He said, "Companies such as Omatek computers limited, Zinox computers limited-Link Nigeria and Acer, among other high-tech companies, are currently benefiting from cooperative ventures with China."
Dr. Adaji said Nigeria welcomes the recent efforts of the Chinese government to encourage the transfer of industrial outfits willing to relocate to West Africa adding that NACCIMA has signed M.O.U with the companies that are willing to relocate.
He said that China should look up to Nigeria as a strong trading partner by encouraging the processing of Nigeria's raw materials for exportation not only in China, but to other countries in the world.
In order to reduce the incidence of substandard products into the country, he said the government should put in place a deliberate policy insisting that all exports should register with Chambers of Commerce and Industry in their catchment areas and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration numbers pasted on their products.
He added that there is also the need for the Nigerian government to take a cursory look at the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and ECOWAS in order to come up with a policy statement that will assist Nigerian manufacturers to withstand competitiveness with their counterparts from China and other parts of the world.
He commended the Nigerian government for not signing EPA saying the implementation of the agreement in its present format will de-industrialise the country by collapsing its fledging local industries, lead to loss of government revenue and decrease the welfare of the citizens.
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Read comments. Write your own.
