Business
German Chamber of Commerce seeks improved trade volume with Nigeria
Giessen Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Germany, has solicited improved trade volume that will change the narrative of trade imbalance between Republic of Germany – Africa and particularly, Nigeria.
According to a statement from the Chamber, Nigeria accounted for less than one per cent out of about two percent trade volume between Germany and Africa.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CCI Giessen-Freidberg, German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Matthias Leder,
expressed the concern during his presentation at the opening of the ongoing 14th Gateway International Trade Fair holding at M.K.O Abiola Trade Fair Complex, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The trade fair, organised by Ogun Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture (OGUNCIMMA) drew participating business organisations from within and outside Nigeria.
Commenting on existing business relationship analysis with Africa, Leder declared, “The balance of trade between Germany and Africa compared to Brazil and Republic of China is very uneven.
“Though, Germany does lot of trading with Brazil and China but its volume of international trade with Africa is 2% out of which Nigeria is less than 1% and my dream is to see that the trade between Germany and Africa grows.
“China’s investment in the last 20 years in Africa is much more than that of the Europe. They invested in infrastructure, rail, ports, telecommunications and so on.”
Leder observed that international trade has always been a cornerstone of prosperity and development, stressing that Germany was poised to change the narrative of trade imbalance that Nigeria is having with it.
He added that China’s investment in the last 20 years in Africa is much more than that of Europe as the country invested in infrastructure, rail, ports, telecommunications and so on.
The German trade envoy declared that his country would work to close the gap in the balance of trade with Nigeria, which is the most populous black nation in the world.
Leder identified low labour productivity, high capital interest, innovation and illegal immigration as parts of underlying factors affecting international trade between Nigeria and Germany.
He stated further, “To change the narrative of the trade imbalance that Nigeria is having with Germany, you can improve the productivity of labour; you can improve the productivity of capital and innovation. We have this project called dual vocation training which means to improve the factor of labour. In this wise, these people received excellent practical training and after this, those people can easily find jobs in Europe and in Germany because the training includes working in a company for three days and spending two days in a vocational training school.
“These people who participated in the dual training are better off in the company where they work because they get to see their clients hailing their works. So, the dual vocational training is one mean of improving productivity.
“Also legal migration can improve productivity of the country because these people who migrate to Germany get a training there and they get a monthly payment that is equivalent to N5m and it can even be double depending on the training and where you work, for instance if you work in the IT sector and this is our second project that we have carried out.
“To improve the productivity, capital is important. It is also not easy for the small and medium businesses to get loans in this country because the interest rate is too high, about 20%. The leadership of the OGUNCCIMA has been trying to do something to strengthen the cooperative economy and cooperative banking in such a way that the interest rate for loans will not be more than 6% such that the small and medium business enterprises can afford.
“One other thing we are also providing is innovation and this we do by creating a platform for the companies to meet. Such is our international conference coming up from May 20 to 22 which provides the opportunity for the companies across globe to come together and access innovation that could help lift up their companies”. Leder stated.
In his remarks, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, proposed that to address the trade imbalance, Nigeria should refrain from exporting raw materials but add value to them in order to make them exportable to the international market.
Explaining further, he noted that the country should take advantage of the regulatory bodies to meet up with the international standard, the former Minister pointed out that “rather than exporting our cocoa, our gold, we need to set up factories that can help processing to give them more value before they are exported”.
On the issue of high interest rates, Muhammed, said “the way out is cooperative banking; it is like the ‘esusu’ system that our forefathers used to make use of in the past”.
“In this kind of arrangement, about 20 to 40 people who belong to same industry can come together and begin to make contributions which one of them takes by month end until it goes round and the interest rate is not more than 6%, cooperative banking is the way to go”, he stated
.
Responding, President of the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Industry Mine and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Chief Dele Oye, disclosed that the Chamber was already partnering with Germany to import some machines for agro processing, noting that, “once you process your goods, the value you get is usually five times of the 1% you will have without processing”
He added that NACCIMA is also working with the Germany to have skills centre in Nigeria where entrepreneurs in the country can be trained to improve skills, productivity and transfer of technology.
In his contribution, the President of Odu’a Chamber of Commerce, Mine and Agriculture (ODUACIMA), Alhaji Wasiu Olaleye, said that the international trade fair would provide ample avenue to link medium and small scale entrepreneurs with with international market.
He added that the trade fair has attracted participants from the neighbouring countries such as Republic of Benin, Niger Republic as well Rwanda from East Africa.
Alhaji Olaleye emphasised that one cannot measure the impact of trade fair by Naira and kobo, but the important thing is that it has provided avenue for both buyers and manufacturers to interact for further business opportunities.
“The most important thing is linkage and trade fair has been able to bridge the gap between different business interests. He added.
