Former House of Representatives Speaker Dimeji Bankole, is seeking a stronger trade relations between Niger and Britain..
Bankole, the voluntary Honorary Vice President of Africa House and the Africa for Growth Initiative, spoke at the British House of Commons when he addressed VIPs from the world of politics and commerce.
He said there is no better time than now for the two countroes to renew trade ties.
He urged Britain to use Brexit as a spur to build stronger, reciprocal trading relations with Africa, especially Nigeria, adding, “our trade relations with the European Union (EU) are far from easy at the moment.
“We currently benefit from duty free access to the EU Single Market for goods, guaranteed under the regional Lomé convention. But the EU – and I should stress this has included the United Kingdom (UK) – has sought to replace this trade deal with a somewhat less favourable successor agreement, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”.
He said with the Nigerian government delaying to agree on the terms of this EPA, Nigeria could well find itself in the same boat as post-Brexit UK; losing trade preferences to the EU market altogether.
He said: There are strong, pragmatic reasons indeed, for both Nigeria and the UK, to start discussing a new, post-Brexit trade deal between our countries.
“The UK is a leading investor and trade partner of Nigeria. Many British companies are already operating in Nigeria, in banking, telecoms and technology, consumer goods, and of course in the energy sector. We have a language in common as well as other cultural features. There is a large community of Nigerians in the UK”.
The UK Government-backed project uses a cutting edge online trading and collaboration platform, which enables users to benefit from bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Africa and gain accessibility to unique trade opportunities in both countries.