Nigeria, Guinea in talks on possible joint venture agreements

Nigeria, Guinea in talks on possible joint venture agreements
Hauwa Noroh Ali, Abuja

Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and Guinea’s president, Alpha Conde, have held talks focused on trade partnerships between Guinean businessmen and women and their Nigeria counterparts to boost non-oil exports of the two countries.

At a meeting held in Abuja, the Managing director of NEXIM, Roberts Orya, explained that NEXIM has the broad responsibility of facilitating the diversification of the country’s export and revenue base to non-oil sectors.

NEXIM bank's mass agenda

This, he said, was undertaken through the provision of finance, risk bearing, as well as trade information and value-added business advisory services to companies engaged in the production of goods and services for export.

He emphasized that the mandate of NEXIM Bank was poised to become the leading African Export Development Bank by 2015 with the target to operate in four critical sectors of the Nigerian economy - Manufacturing, Agriculture, Solid Minerals, and Services.

Mr. Orya said that the areas that would be explored in such trade partnerships, if signed, include manufacturing, solid minerals mining and extraction, transportation - aviation, sea transportation – the ECOWAS sea-link project, tourism and hotel chain management.

In his word: “there is so much that Guinea and Nigeria can achieve together for the creation of employment opportunities and curbing poverty if the Governments of both countries could provide the enabling business climate through sound economic policies for the teeming private sector entrepreneurs.”

Investment areas

President Conde expressed a keen interest and readiness to work with NEXIM Bank in attracting Nigerian business men and women into Guinea to take advantage of the abundant mineral reserves and help rejuvenate his county’s manufacturing sector which has not been very vibrant.

According to President Conde,” Guinea's mineral wealth makes it potentially one of Africa's richest countries, yet lamentably, its people are among the poorest in West Africa’.

The President also expressed the desire to explore how Guinea could open its skies to Nigeria airline operators since, according to him, the country has no official carrier and there are no direct links between the two countries. He indicated that he would welcome partnerships with Nigerian businesses in developing his country’s airline. 

President Conde commended Mr. Orya for the ingenious initiative of the NEXIM Bank in coming up with the ECOWAS sea-link project, noting that the launching of the project would help achieve, to a large extent, the objectives of the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services within the sub-region.

The President informed Mr. Orya that his Government is looking forward to receiving a delegation of Nigerian business entrepreneurs, under the auspices of NEXIM Bank to Conakry by September 2011.

Exploring possibilities  

Representing Nigerian manufacturers, Mr. Obi Ezeude, a prime beneficiary of NEXIM Bank non-oil export promotion interventions thanked President Conde for his keenness to invite Nigerian business entrepreneurs to explore investment opportunities in Guinea.

 “Given the right mix of policy incentives from the Government of Guinea and various West African Governments, most companies would be willing to explore the possibility of setting up satellite manufacturing plants across the sub-region,” he said.

Williams