Nigeria, UK trade relations worth £7bn – Envoy
The trade relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom currently stands at about seven billion pounds sterling.
The British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Dr Richard Montgomery, who made this disclosure said Nigeria and the UK signed a new agreement on enhanced trade and investment partnership and agreed to work on a range of sectors.
He identified the sectors as agriculture, the creative industry, legal, financial services, and education.
Montgomery stated that trade between the UK and Nigeria is balanced.
“Trading by both countries is relatively balanced because the UK exports about four billion pounds sterling worth of goods and services to Nigeria while Nigeria exports to the UK about three billion pounds worth of goods. We need to do more because if you look at last years figure compared to the penultimate, there was not much of an increase in trade volume. It was an increase of about two per cent. So trade in the last few years has changed. And the aim of our enhanced trade and investment partnership is to boost trade and investment between both countries and also to raise these numbers.
“Nigeria can benefit and take advantage of a new post-Brexit trading agreement that the UK has put in place that is called the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).
“This scheme called the DCTS is one of the most generous schemes in the world in the sense that it removes tariffs on thousands of products from across the world to make free trade easier,” he said.
The envoy said that having visited many parts of Nigeria, the UK realised that Nigeria had at least 3,000 tariff-free products that it could export to the UK.
According to him, the enhanced trade investment partnership signed between the two countries in February is aimed at attracting more investment to the agricultural sector.
He said Nigeria could boost trade with the UK by exporting more of its agricultural products.
“In agricultural exports, Nigeria can export cashew, cotton, or cocoa from the middle belt.
“There are lots of commercial farmers involved in vegetables, which can be processed, and there is also timber. And we think that theres a big potential for commercial agriculture in the future in Nigeria. You have the land, you have the people. The new trading scheme should be an opportunity for Nigeria. We can do more in financial and legal services.”
He said there were new technologies coming into the financial services sector which will greatly enhance the sector. He added that Nigeria has a huge creative industry which the UK recognised and was interested in.
“London is a good place for partnerships in the creative industry. So, we are hoping to promote those areas through partnership.”
He said two challenges of doing business in the UK that foreigners needed to take cognisance of were lack of knowledge on how to do business and also the standards (non-tariff barriers to trade)
He stated that a facility called the growth gateway run by the Department of Business and Trade was provided as a source of advice for anyone that intends to export to the UK.
“When you go onto the internet and search for the UK Department for Business and Trade, you will access the growth gateway page where you will get information on trade, depending on what sector you are in. Theres even a page for Nigeria.
“In the area of standards , if you want to sell some products in the UK, there are safety standards you have to meet, and you will have a certification. Nigeria has its own certification. And Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is working with UK standards organisation to reconcile standards or enable them to certify for the UK market to help ease trade.”
Montgomery added that he was optimistic that the UK would do more trade in Nigeria because of the bold reforms by the Nigerian government.
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He applauded the removal of the “crippling fuel subsidy”, tackling oil theft, getting oil revenues that manage the budget better, and also the foreign exchange reforms.
He said that those were critical in encouraging UK investors and banks to come back into the Nigerian market and do more trade, noting that the foreign exchange reforms were absolutely critical in this sense.
“You all know that the foreign exchange system in the past chased away investors because it is difficult to get your exchange done and you do not know whether you will be able to move money across borders.
But the new exchange rates policy under this government and the very impressive Central Bank of Nigeria leadership team is making investors to say they can come back and invest in the country,” he said
He said the educational system policy changed earlier this year for international students in higher education not to bring dependents into the UK was to curb the increase of foreign students bringing in dependents.
He explained that the huge surge in dependence was putting an unsustainable pressure on many universities, adding that it was the reason these changes were introduced.
Montgomery added that before his posting as High Commissioner to Nigeria, he had spoken to some of these universities on the policy change, which had been in the pipeline for some time.
He noted that the universities Chancellors had complained of the huge student populations highlighting that accommodation was a huge challenge, access to medical services under the National Health Service and access to school if they brought in dependents.
According to him, the restrictions do not apply to all categories, adding that those doing a long term research degree, like a PhD or doctorate were not affected.
“Those coming to the UK for doctorate can still bring their dependency but if you are coming to the UK with a study visa for an undergraduate degree, or short term masters degree, I am afraid the rules have been changed.
“People need to understand why this change was brought in, and it is a sensible change because we have a large higher education sector and most of these universities are in towns across the country.
“There has been a surge recently, in demand for British education and I can give you the macro figures and there has also been a huge increase in foreign students bringing their dependants.
“In the case of Nigeria, in 2019, before the Coronavirus pandemic, there were only one and a half thousand dependents being brought in from Nigeria, with those on study visas,
“In 2022, that figure had increased to fifty two thousand dependants so thats a thirty fold increase in dependence. And its not just about Nigeria by the way.
“It is also about all foreign students, we saw similar rises, for example amongst Indian students coming to study in the UK,” he added
He said it was too early to ascertain the impact of the policy on undergraduates because the changes were announced in 2023, but came into effect early this year and they would have to wait until September 2024, before they get the next run of academic tickets.
“I think what your wider audience needs to hear is that the demand for UK education is really strong. In 2022, 65,000 study visas were approved to Nigerian applicants while in September 2023, we received about 115,000 study visa applications from Nigeria.
“About 95 per cent were approved and over 110,000 study visas were issued last September compared to 65,000 of the previous year. There was almost a doubling of Nigerian study visas in 2023 which means the demand is really high…I really like the demand but there are other factors at play in terms of schooling in the UK.
“The value of the Naira in the coming months will also determine how easy or hard it will be for many people to afford our education. But I really hope that the number of people who bring dependants in the UK may actually not be a majority.”