Washington, D.C. — The Joint Economic Partnership Committee (JEPC) began it's third session in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, aiming to consolidate initiatives mooted during President Clinton's visit to Nigeria in August.

The committee was created a year ago as a forum for policy-makers from Nigeria and the United States to exchange ideas on structural adjustment, bilateral trade and investment and the specific opportunities offered by the recently passed African Growth and Opportunity Act, (AGOA)

At a briefing Tuesday, the Nigerian delegation's leader, Chief Phillip Asiodu, Chief Economic Advisor to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, told reporters that years of military rule had caused Nigeria to "decline and stagnate....So, very much, we are at the beginning of a new dawn in Nigeria and look very much toward partnership with the United States."

Following the briefing, Chief Asiodu signed a bilateral protocol with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) that allows OPIC to operate in Nigeria and streamlines the delivery of OPIC services in Nigeria.

A second protocol with the U.S. Agency for International Development was signed, committing that agency to a $15.6m two-year program to improve Nigeria's efforts at economic reform and to boost its capacity for agricultural growth.

Instability and a reputation for corruption have made investors leery of committing money to Nigerian enterprises. But Chief Opral Benson, another delegation member, told allAfrica.com: "We are telling [U.S.] businesses and corporations, 'you are not taking the risks you've been told you're taking when you do business in Nigeria.'"