(Middle): The leader of the Tunisian delegation and President of Tunisia Africa Business Council, Anis Jaziri, addressing diplomatic correspondents at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival in Nigeria, while the Tunisian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohsen Antit, (left) looks on (NAN).
By Mark Longyen
A 20-member business delegation from Tunisia has arrived in Nigeria for the Nigeria-Tunisia Economic Forum, aimed at exploring and creating various investment opportunities between the two countries.
The delegation, led by the President of Tunisia Africa Business Council, Anis Jaziri, was received by Tunisian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohsen Antit, on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the nearly weeklong event, which is tagged: “Multisectoral Economic Mission in Nigeria,” will officially kick off on Tuesday and end on Friday.
The forum, which is organised in collaboration with Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, is expected to boost Nigeria-Tunisia bilateral economic relations.
Speaking to diplomatic correspondents on arrival, Jaziri said the delegation’s visit was an unprecedented one by such a large group, comprising representatives from multiple sectors of the Tunisian economy.
He listed the various sectors to include construction, information technology, health, trading, engineering, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, mechanical, electrical and chemical industry sectors.
“The purpose of our visit is to create real opportunities between Tunisia and Nigeria. There are huge things that we can do together.
“Like, you know, Tunisia has very good products, very good services in many sectors. We have the know-hows, and we want to see exactly what’s going on here in Nigeria.
“We also want to see in which sectors, and in which fields, we can seal economic cooperations.
“We will also have many B-to-B meetings, and hope that these will bring together big partnerships between the Tunisian economic operators, and their partners in Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Antit explained that choosing Nigeria for the forum was strategic because Nigeria is the richest and biggest ECOWAS member state and Africa’s largest economy.
The ambassador added that Nigeria has a significant economic potential and favourable climate for investment and attracting businessmen.
He said that organising the forum in the country was part of the framework aimed at adding a new momentum to the existing bilateral relations between Tunisia and Nigeria.
According to him, the forum is the second lap of the first forum, Financing Investment Trade Africa (FITA), which was held in June in Tunisia, and was attended by no fewer than 35 Nigerian companies.
The envoy called for more trade among African countries, and expressed dismay that most African countries historically trade with other continents.
“Africa is first for Africans. So it’s true that we should, of course, deal with other people, with other continents, with other countries, but the priority is for the continent.
“So, the priority of business is between Africans themselves. Tunisians and Nigerians are also Africans,” he said.
He recalled that the earlier visit of the Nigerian businessmen and CEOs delegation to Tunisia for FITA was very successful, as many contracts were signed between various companies on both sides.
“Now, we are organising the reverse, a big delegation made up of more than 20 businessmen coming to Abuja, Nigeria, for the the Multi-sectoral Economic Forum.
“This falls within the framework of our keenness to strengthen bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries in the economic and investment fields.
“The Tunisian delegation that will participate in the forum is the first of its kind and in its size from Tunisia to Nigeria,” he said.
According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, Nigeria’s exports to Tunisia was 35.72 million dollars in 2023.
It says that the main products exported from Tunisia to Nigeria were gypsum, salt and leather stock, among others.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
edited by Sadiya Hamza
