Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for an increase in bilateral relations between Nigeria and Angola in order to boost the economy.
Obasanjo made this statement during the Angola-Nigeria Diplomatic-Business Investment meeting in Lagos on Saturday.
The former president emphasized the potential for enhanced collaboration between the two countries. He also highlighted the importance of increasing trade volume within Africa as a means of advancing economic partnerships on the continent.
Obasanjo further advised that African countries should focus on benefiting from their own products, as this aligns with the goal of promoting intra-African trade and economic self-sufficiency.
“We are still battling with high deficit in transportation. For instance, moving goods from two countries – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo -Brazzaville is still a problem. We need to solve this challenges of moving goods around,” the ex-president said.
“One of the things the leaders of the post-independence movement achieved is to promote the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA).”
Olusegun Awolowo, the secretary of the national action committee of the AFCFTA in Nigeria, highlighted the untapped economic potential between Nigeria and Angola. He emphasized that the absence of foreign direct investment (FDI) between these two major oil-exporting countries in Africa is a clear indication of the opportunities waiting to be explored.
“Sadly, there is no FDI between Nigeria and Angola. This means trade between the two biggest oil exporters is zero, and this is not good enough,” Awolowo said.
“Angola is importing from the rest of the world what it can actually get from Nigeria and Nigeria doing likewise. We should trade between ourselves.
“Comparatively, we supply what they don’t have and they also supply what we don’t have. Former President Obasanjo has mentioned some areas that need more collaboration.
“It’s true we have some infrastructural deficits which both government and the private organisations can also latch on to invest.”
Fifi Ejindu, the president of the Angola-Nigeria Business Council, spoke about the efforts being made to tackle trade barriers and simplify visa procedures. She emphasized that the support from Angolan government authorities is a positive sign that progress can be achieved in this area.
Ejindu also highlighted the increasing interest and involvement of Nigerian investors in Angola. This is evident from the expected business activities that will take place in Angola as a result of the trade initiatives being discussed.
She called for a positive step to improve trade relations between Nigeria and Angola. Armando Manuel, former finance minister of Angola, stated that the positive evaluation of the recent diplomatic-business investment meeting indicated productive discussions and the possibility of concrete results in the near future.
“We are awaiting Nigerian investors to come to Angola because we already have the expertise in various sectors,” Manuel said.
“We are talking about opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector, agriculture and others, because our population is growing, while food security is a sort of concern.”
Manuel also mentioned that Angola has implemented favorable policies to encourage investment in agriculture, particularly in areas like poultry, feed mill, soya beans, sorghum, maize, and cash crops like cotton.
