The Consul-General of the United States Consulate in Lagos, Will Stevens, stated that Nigeria and the US maintain a $10 billion annual trade relationship.
Stevens made this statement during the opening ceremony of the African Growth and Opportunity Act workshop with Proper Africa in Lagos, according to The Punch.
The workshop aims to equip export-ready Nigerian businesses, Nigeria Customs Service, trade officials, and other stakeholders with the knowledge and skills needed to maximize the benefits of AGOA and enhance its utilization in Nigeria.
Stevens noted that the US and Nigeria enjoy an incredibly balanced trade relationship.
“The United States and Nigeria have an incredibly balanced trade relationship almost 50-50 which means we are equal partners. So it’s almost a $10bn yearly trade relationship, about $5bn from the US to Nigeria and $5bn from Nigeria to the US. But $3.8bn of that in AGOA is oil-related products and we want to see more,” he said.
He stated that despite the two countries’ balanced trade relationship, most of the trade under AGOA between them comes from the oil and gas sector.
According to him, the oil and gas sector represents less than 8 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, “so where is the rest of your economic activity, and why is it not being exported to the United States?”
He explained that AGOA provides exporters with unfettered access to the US market, which constitutes 27 percent of the global economy, emphasizing that California alone is the third-largest economy in the world.
“I think Texas is the seventh largest economy, and New York is like the ninth largest economy,” he said.
“So when you get access to that US Market duty-free, sort of a unilateral trade concession that we are giving, you are getting access to a quarter of the global economy. So if you can get one per cent market shares in New York State, that’s bigger than almost the entire economy of Nigeria,” the consular-general added.
He highlighted the US’s commitment to the AGOA initiative, noting that one of the benefits of Prosper Africa is its ability to unite the entire U.S. government.
Stevens emphasized that Prosper Africa fosters growth in bilateral trade and investment between Africa and the United States.
“It’s not just us selling our stuff to you but helping you sell your stuff to us. That’s the cool thing about Prosper,” he mentioned.
“We are focused on both parts. We know that as you can enter our market and create exports, you bring in hard currency, you raise the standards of the products that you are developing because if you can succeed in the U.S. market, you can succeed in the Asian market, you can succeed in the European market. So, please, think about how you can bring your business to the United States, how you can use AGOA, and make connections with each other,” Steven noted.
Earlier, the Deputy US Trade Representative for Africa, Osvaldo Gomez-Martinez, explained that AGOA offers a great opportunity for African nations, including Nigeria, to access the U.S. market duty-free.
He explained that Nigeria, as one of the largest economies in Africa with a diverse and rapidly growing private sector, has the potential to greatly enhance its exports to the United States.
“While the oil sector has long dominated trade between our nations, accounting for about 98 per cent of Nigeria’s $3.8bn exports under AGOA the future lies in expanding beyond this sector and embracing the full spectrum of AGOA eligible products,” he said.
Gomez-Martinez, advised that diversifying Nigeria’s export base away from oil and by extension expanding its sources of other inflows is, extremely important if Nigeria is to safeguard its economy from the volatility it currently faces.
He emphasized that the manufacturing and agricultural sectors in Nigeria present significant potential to diversify the country’s export base under AGOA.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Mr Charles Odii, admitted that even though Small and Medium Enterprises are facing some challenges they are still performing at their best.
AGOA offers eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for over 1,800 products, in addition to more than 5,000 products eligible under the Generalized System of Preferences program.
