By Sarafina Christopher and Lucy Ogalue
Nigeria and the UK have signed an Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) to further boost trade and investment and to unlock new opportunities for both countries.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the MoU which was signed in Abuja is the first the UK has signed with an African country.
The MoU is designed to grow the UK and Nigeria’s already thriving trading relationship, which totaled 7 billion euros in 2023.
According to the UK Minister for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch who signed the agreement, the two countries will continue to be bound by unshakeable cultural bonds and share a common law system which is the language of our contracts and transactions.
Badenoch also noted that the ETIP will build on the UK Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) which provides simpler and generous trading terms for Nigeria.
“Nigeria is a main beneficiary of changes introduced by the DCTS and will see tariff reductions on over 3000 products meaning that 99 percent of Nigerian exports to the UK by value will be duty free.
“Tariffs have been removed on Nigerian goods in important non-oil export sectors such as cocoa butter and paste. Sesame oil, clothing and apparel.
“We must be committed to implementing and building on what we have and have signed because this now is where the hard work really begins.
“We must continue to work together to ensure all of the agencies of our governments deliver on the contents objectives, ”she added.
In her remarks, Doris Uzoka-Anite Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Nigeria said that the implementation of the treaty stands to boost trade investments, market access for both countries.
“The UK is one of our long-standing strategic partners with whom we share strong ties, and it gladdens me that this relationship is set to deepen as we’ve signed the ETIP agreement.
“The partnership will increase market access and support vibrant businesses, to create more jobs and accelerate greater investment in sectors of mutual interest.
“This agreement will reduce barriers to business and trade between both our countries,” she said.
Uzoka-Anite also added that the Ministry is diligently working to ensure that they remove barriers that hinder local businesses from succeeding, growing and expanding into other markets.
“ At the moment I’m currently negotiating our accession into the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) Agreement – which is posited to be the largest free trade area in the world, with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3.4 Trillion dollars and access to a market of over 1.3 Billion people spread across 54 member states of the African Union,” she said. (NAN)(www.nannews.com.ng)
Edited by Sadiya Hamza
