In 2014 alone, Nigeria’s total trade with the European Union (EU) stood at €39 billion with the EU accounting for 31 per cent of Nigeria’s total trade.
Speaking at the pre-event press conference of the fifth EU-Nigeria business forum(EUNBF), held at Eko Hotel, Lagos, the Head of Trade and Economic, EU, Mr. Filipo Amato said the EU investment stock in Nigeria grew from €23.8 billion in 2013 to €25.3 billion in 2014.
He said with the fall in oil prices, EU-Nigeria trade declined by 26.7 per cent to €29billion last year.
“Nigerian exports to EU declined by 35 per cent while imports declined by seven per cent over the period. Unfortunately, about 97 per cent of the exports to the EU are oil and gas,” he said.
To reverse this trend, Mr Amato said the forum is designed to strengthen the business relations between the country and the EU through identification of opportunities in the global textile value chain; expose Nigerian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to opportunities in the EU market through the platform of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and explore the financing options available for funding the power sector and diversifying the energy mix in the country.
Key private sector actors and policy makers in the country will have the opportunity to exchange business ideas with their counterparts from Europe during the business forum scheduled for Lagos between November 10 and 11.
He said this year’s event has: Harnessing Nigeria’s Potential for Economic Growth as theme and identify opportunities in the textile value chain and proffer options for accessing long term finance for the power sector in Nigeria.
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