The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, along with several Chief Executives of agencies under her oversight, including Dr. Olufemi Ogunyemi of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), strategically utilised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to the United Kingdom to promote flexible trade and investment facilitation strategies.
It has been widely recognised that the president’s visit ended a more than thirty-year period during which Nigerian leaders avoided effective trade and investment diplomacy with the United Kingdom, to the mutual benefit of both countries. A question like: “Who did this to us’’ could fill these decades of silence.
Nonetheless, the president’s masterful diplomacy has been successfully executed, with the ministerial leadership highlighting its success.
The UK Minister for Trade, Sir Chris Bryant MP, and Nigeria’s Minister for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole MFR, co-hosted the first ministerial meeting of the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP). They brought together senior policymakers, technical experts, and private sector representatives to review progress since the UK-Nigeria ETIP was launched in February 2024.
The Ministers reaffirmed the strategic importance of the ETIP as the main platform for strengthening trade and investment ties between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
Both sides recognised the need for ongoing high-level dialogue and close technical cooperation to deliver commercially meaningful results that support sustainable, inclusive, and innovative economic growth in both countries.
The meeting offered a chance to review recent bilateral investment developments and highlighted increasing interest among UK and Nigerian companies in expanding commercial activities across key sectors.
A spotlight was also cast on barriers impacting firms, including a UK agrifood processor exploring expansion in Nigeria. It was agreed that regulatory clarity should be improved, investor support mechanisms strengthened, and efforts to advance investment facilitation tools.
Both parties acknowledged ongoing collaboration on Nigeria’s Investment Portal goals and the potential for a future investment memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Interestingly, the platform emphasised the need for greater regulatory cooperation to enable growth within the services trade ecosystem.
They welcomed the discussions on Audit Regulatory Equivalence and the Mutual Recognition of Statutory Audit Qualifications and highlighted opportunities for the new UK-Nigeria Growth Programme to support capacity building in innovation, digital regulation, intellectual property protection, and regulatory coherence, thereby enhancing competitiveness and promoting export diversification across priority sectors.
Nigeria provided an update on its new Intellectual Property Policy and outlined implementation plans to enhance investor confidence and safeguard creative-sector practitioners.
Evidently, Dr. Ogunyemi’s participation in these high-level meetings served as an opportunity for NEPZA to align and realign with the new trade facilitation policy of the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.
Earlier this year, Dr Ogunyemi had stretched the limit to break long years of non-exploitation of available trade and investment opportunities with the embassies of the European Union in Abuja.
This one attempt has increased interest among EU members in doing business in the Free Trade Zones.
Again, the NEPZA boss used a similar strategy during a sideline event in Marlborough, with the theme “Deepening Trade & Business Relationships towards a Mutually Prosperous Economy,” in which he described the Authority’s role as the main driver of Nigeria’s non-oil exports.
Recounting the current status of the 63 Free Trade Zones and the over 700 enterprises operating within them, Dr. Ogunyemi invited UK investors to test their production lines in the free zones, assuring them that their investments would be protected by incentives and security.
He noted that NEPZA was creating a supportive business environment as outlined in its Act, and mentioned that the Authority was working closely with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) to expand investment opportunities in the country.
Dr. Ogunyemi urged Nigerians in the diaspora to take advantage of the president’s new, actionable Industrial Policy by investing in NEPZA free trade zones, noting that the scheme’s 100 percent profit repatriation policy is unmatched.
“I have begun the trade and investment promotion diplomacy by attending the Commonwealth Day Celebration organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Commonwealth Investment Network Summit, the Commonwealth Foundation, and the First Bank UK meeting. I sincerely thank the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment and the President for the opportunity to attempt to attract FDI to the free trade zones,’’ Dr. Ogunyemi said.
In conclusion, early signs of success are emerging in expanding trade, capital, and industrial partnerships for shared prosperity, fuelled by strong interest among UK investors eager to invest in Nigeria. It cannot be overstated that the president has truly helped break down the major barrier to attracting FDI from the UK to Nigeria through his visit to King Charles III and his pragmatic macroeconomic reforms.
Martins Odeh, Ph.D., is the Head, Corporate Communications, NEPZA.
