Chidimma Uchegbu – Abuja
The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Expatriates, Badr Abdel Aaty is in Nigeria for investment opportunities for the mutual benefits of the two countries.
Aaty disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to his Nigerian counterpart, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar in Abuja on Monday stressing that there are a lot of opportunities, with a conducive environment for investment .
Abdel Aaty, who is visiting Nigeria for the second time in his short spell also assured Nigeria of their seriousness to invest and do business in the country .
Accompanied by CEOs of the 30 biggest companies in Egypt, the Minister listed agriculture, pharmaceuticals, industry, energy, mineral, oil and gas as some of the areas of interest to the investors.
“I’m leading a big delegation. We have more than 30 giant companies in Egypt, in different sectors, in agriculture, in pharmaceuticals, in industry, in energy, in mineral, oil and gas, you name it. They are interested in investing and participating in Nigeria , and we are committed to come, to invest, to do business here based on a win-win situation”, he said.
Speaking further, Aaty lamented that the trade relationship between Nigeria and Egypt was far below what it should be:
“The current trade volume between our two countries does not meet or correspond with the weight of two giants in Africa, Nigeria and Egypt.
“This is very minimal. We have to double and even triple the trade volume in order to match the weight of the two countries. And we are fully committed, we have the political will from Nigeria, from Egypt to do and I’m fully committed to work with my dear brother Minister Yusuf to hopefully double and triple the trade volume in the near future”, he said.
He however informed that they were working on instruction of the heads of government of both countries to enhance cooperation bilateral relations.
“Our political relationship is more than excellent, but we have to do more on economic trade and investment based on a win-win situation. Nigeria is the largest country in Africa. Nigeria is the gateway to Africa, not only to the west and central of Africa, but to all Africa.
“That’s why, as my brother Youssef mentioned, I’m starting my tour from here, from Abuja, in recognition of the strategic status of this great country. The two leaders met before in Rio de Janeiro on the side of the G20 meeting and they agreed to elevate our relationship into a comprehensive and strategic partnership and this is our task as foreign ministers to do more and to enhance our cooperation”, he said.
Responding, Amb. Tuggar noted that they had good intentions and expressed readiness to expedite actions on their request:
“They have one of the largest players that has successfully reclaimed record amounts of land, turned desert into fertile land that is producing food in Egypt. They have come here, they are interested in investing and participating in Nigeria.
“Of course, there are some of the other players, for instance, the power and energy sector, electricity and swede, the likes of them are already here. They are looking at opportunities in gas, in the mineral sector.
“Both countries are also going to establish a joint commission so that all of these initiatives, including the chamber of commerce that we have, would be subsumed under that so that we can drive it faster”, he concluded.
