The United Kingdom (UK) has said it would work with Nigeria to reduce barriers to trade between the two countries.
The UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, stated this in Lagos on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Nigerian currency, naira, has been on a free fall due to foreign exchange challenges.
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Badenoch noted that one of the ways to address the continuous depreciation of naira is by increasing exports, adding that the UK will see what it can do on its side to eliminate barriers to trade between the two countries.
She, however, said the businesses from the UK are excited about investing in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos.
“Primarily, I want to continue doing what my main job is, which is promoting British business and international trade all across the world and I visit many countries,” Badenoch said.
“And of course, when the opportunity arose, I definitely wanted to come to Nigeria. As many people know, this is the country that I lived in when I was a child. And the first meeting that I had was a British business roundtable, which is businesses from the United Kingdom that are investing in Nigeria, mainly in Lagos.
“We want to make sure that we have the two-way trade. We know the challenges that Nigeria is having with foreign exchange. One of the ways that you can resolve that is exporting more and finding out what we can do on the United Kingdom side to reduce those barriers to trade and ensure that business between the two countries goes as smoothly as possible.”
In his remarks, Sanwo-Olu urged the business community in the UK to consider Lagos as a destination of choice for their investments.
According to the governor, his administration will continue to make the state investment and business-friendly.
Sanwo-Olu also stressed the need for Nigeria to consume what it grows and grow what it consumes to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign currency.
He said: “For us, we see a whole lot of opportunities that Lagos can be for our country while also identifying and managing the challenges that we need to deal with on a continuous basis.
“We will continue to make the environment investment and business-friendly. We will continue to make Lagos a destination of choice. We understand that people have choices but they can indeed make those investment decisions in Lagos.
“Lagos is one of the reference points not only in West Africa but in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa and we are excited that you are here. We are hoping that you have seen one or two things that you can take back and you can continue to assure the business community in the United Kingdom that Nigeria is ripe already and Lagos is a destination that they should consider.”