Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Terence Quick, during a workshop organised in view of an upcoming major business mission to Lagos, Nigeria, stressed the importance for Greek businesses to be open to the developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, with a population of 196 million and abundant natural resources, is the twelfth largest oil producer and the 30th largest economy in the world, with a total GDP of 1.66 trillion dollars in 2016, the highest of any African nation.
The business mission which will be headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs will take place in November, in Lagos, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Greek-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, and SEVΕ (Greek Exporters Association).
“Following the business missions to Mozambique, South Africa, and Botswana last year around this time, it is now Nigeria’s turn. This is indicative of the interest which this particular geographical area of Sub-Saharan Africa exhibits in promoting the economic and business interests of our country, mainly in such areas as construction, manufacturing, renewable energy resources, communications and information technologies, standardization of production, health services, and shipping,” Mr Quick stated.
He also pointed out that there is a considerable margin for the prospect of developing further bilateral trade, especially as Greek companies, wherever they have been active abroad, have proven to be among the top companies in the world in terms of consistency, know-how, quality, competitive pricing, faithful fulfilment of their contractual obligations, supplying jobs to the local population and, at the same time, offering new jobs in their parent companies in Greece due to expansion of their export activity.
The event was opened by the Executive Vice President of SEV (Hellenic Federation of Enterprises), Mr Konstantinos Bitsios, SEVE member Mr Nikos Vasiliou, the Chairman of the Greek-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Technology, Mr Nikos Yiamakis, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Leventis Group in Nigeria, Mr Michael Economakis, and the chargé d'affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Greece, Mr Folorunsho Ajadi.
September 27, 2018