Nigeria remains France’s leading trade partner in SSA

 By Benjamin Alade

Moses Umoru. PHOTO: LinkedIn

The Director General of the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Moses Umoru has said Nigeria remains France’s leading trade partner in sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth in Africa behind Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia with the energy sector taking a prominent position in trade.

Umoru noted that other sectors like agriculture, e-commerce, IT, transportation, logistics, and other service areas are companies where French businesses dominate.

He spoke while reeling out activities for the 2022 French Week celebration holding from the 18th to 25th November, in Lagos.

He stated that France’s business and economic interest have continued to grow in Nigeria, saying the French government is leading in supporting development projects in Nigeria.

He said from renovating primary healthcare centres in Oyo State, power projects in the North of Nigeria, waste conversion projects in Cross River, to supporting women businesses in various parts of the country, French companies in Nigeria remained committed to doing business in the country.

“We see brands like Engie deploying mini-grid power projects in various parts of Nigeria with 60 million dollar investment, Total Energies impact projects covering power, healthcare, education, etc. with huge investment in the upstream sector of the Nigerian economy, Danone (Fanmilk) with huge investments in backward integration for the production of dairy milk for their products and the commissioning of it’s modern dairy farm in Odeda, Ogun state, SPIE oil and Gas training programs for young Nigerian in various skill areas, Delifrost Nigeria now sourcing local milk from Kano state for their Dairy products , among others.”

He stressed that the efforts and activities of the key economic players like the French Development Bank (AFD) Propaco, Business France, the economic department of the Embassy and The Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have supported the growth of the French-Nigeria business relations in Nigeria.

The DG did not fail to mention the impact being made by the Chamber in the promotion of France-Nigeria business relationship.

He recounted the high-impact initiatives being carried out by the Chamber which included; trade missions to France, high-level networking events, meetings with key government agencies and support for the Chamber’s start-ups.

However, he said the 2022 French week celebration has been scheduled to hold in Lagos is to celebrate the French business resilience in Nigeria with a unique line up of events, which include the Beaujolais Wine tasting, an Economic Summit on “France Business Presence in Nigeria”, A Women in Business Breakfast, a dinner to celebrate start-ups and the Gala dinner.

According to him, this epic celebration will bring together business figures from France and Nigeria in an atmosphere of networking and business exchanges and it is believed that the event will further enhance the relationship between France and Nigeria as both countries are on the path to greater economic prosperity.

The French week 2022 is sponsored by : Schneider Electric, Mazars, GMT Nigeria Ltd, TotalEnergies, Coollink, Delifrost, Spie, Coscharis, Zenith Bank, UBA, NESSCO, Bollore/TICT, JCDecaux, CFAO, Danone (Fanmilk), Bourbon Interoil Nigeria Ltd, Clina-Lancet, Credpal, YOA Insurance, Engie, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Ltd, CountryHill, Bolamark, Deloitte, Ize Ukpoma Matebese and Company, Vallourec O & G, Aelex.

Partners: Air France, Business France, Vines By Rosa Bordeaux, Nigerian Bottling Company Plc, Alliance Française de Lagos / Mike Adenuga Centre.