![\"Osinbajo](\"http:\/\/www.businessdayonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Untitled-design75-560x390.png\")
NOVEMBER 4, 2017: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo \u200eon Thursday advocated for more regional integration of Nigeria\u2019s economy to the ECOWAS and Africa to harvest full benefits of investments and Trade. Osinbajo said “ECOWAS and African regions must work towards ensuring it speeds up development of infrastructure to increase trade, boost free movement of people and merchandise, that ensures faster eradication of poverty”.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a forum in Abuja organized by High-Level \u200ePolicy and Private sector Trade and Investment to facilitate partnership, Osibnajo said \u201cWe are at a time of watershed in African history,a time with critical challenges and opportunities. Our Population will equal the population of India and China in 2050. Despite all these, consumer spending is projected to reach $1.4 trillion within few years, and business to business spending to reach $3.5 trillion within years. We must prepare the ground to harvest these opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFew days ago,the World Bank announced that Nigeria ,the Africa\u2019s largest economy has appreciated on the ease of doing business ranking from 169 to 145,moving and is ranked among 10 top reforming economies globally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Vice President pointed out that Nigeria has embarked on reforms on macro economic stability, ease of doing business reforms, Executive orders signed,and other series of reforms to ensure the right kind of environment is created for businesses in the country,and to attract investors.<\/p>\n
\u200eSpeaking also on growing Trade facilitation in Nigeria,Roberto Azevedo,the Director general of World Trade Organisation said, \u201cWe have the Ministerial Trade facilitation coming up in Buenos Aires in December,and we acknowledged Nigeria\u2019s leadership position.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently,we are having a discussion on Trade facilitation,investment facilitation,and these are key elements for developments and job creation in developing countries,which also allows a model for economic diversification,while breaking away from exporting commodities by improving value addition\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200eIn Buenos Aires we would be talking about food security,subsidies for Agricultural products,fisheries,and a conversation in investment facilitation, electronic commerce,and how to help SMEs, and Nigeria is taking a leading in that conversation,and we must discuss further.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stated further that Nigeria must have the right kind of consistency in political and economic strategies to attract the right kind of investment to deepen it\u2019s infrastructural deficits.<\/p>\n
\u200eGiving further insights on what Nigeria needs to do to build on improved ranking on ease of doing business,he said,\u201dNigeria must keep on facilitating investment,and Trade.We already have the trade facilitation agreement that Nigeria\u200e is committed to, so they must explore that to reduce trade costs,in order to help Nigeria\u2019s businesses integrate further onto global economy.<\/p>\n
\u200eInvestments would help the economies to leapfrog,we don\u2019t need to re-invent the will,he stated further.<\/p>\n
\u200eEarlier in his remarks, Okechukwu Enelemah, Nigeria\u2019s Minister of Industry Trade and Investment said the high level partnership forum is a four way partnership that sees the Nigerian government, ECOWAS, friends of the World Trade Organisation and the private sector, deepen partnership drive towards improving trade and investment as engine of growth for the Nigerian economy.<\/p>\n
Also, Muhhisa Kituyi,the Secretary -General ,United Nation\u2019s Conference on Trade and Development lauded Nigeria\u2019s effort towards deepening trade facilitation.
\n\u201cWe must adjust ourselves to the global economic environment by addressing the dynamics of our made in Africa goods to be globally competitive .Our ease of doing business must give us the needed edge towards attracting the right kind of investments\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n
Also, Marcel Alain de Souza,the President of ECOWAS Commission said at the forum that the sub-region is working towards a common currency,in addition to developing the right inter-linking infrastructure that would see easier movement of people and merchandise both within and outside the sub-region,as part of strategy of attracting the right kind of investment.<\/p>\n
Frank Eleanya, Business Day<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NOVEMBER 4, 2017: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo \u200eon Thursday advocated for more regional integration of Nigeria\u2019s economy to the ECOWAS and Africa to harvest full benefits of investments and Trade. Osinbajo said “ECOWAS and African regions must work towards ensuring it speeds up development of infrastructure to increase trade, boost free movement of people and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n