The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr., stated that the US will prioritize private sector-led investment rather than aid in its engagement with Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
He made this remark on Thursday during a Fireside Chat at Lagos Business School, themed ‘Toward a Robust US-Nigeria Commercial and Investment Partnership.’
Nigeria is the US’s second-largest trade partner in Africa, with bilateral trade reaching approximately $13 billion by the end of 2024.
He said, “Over the last few decades, the United States has invested billions of dollars in Nigeria’s health, education, and agricultural sectors, I believe, saving lives and also creating new economic opportunities on the ground. However, we have reached what President (Donald) Trump likes to call an inflexion point. Now is the time for us both to build on the strength of these aid investments, and for Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies with huge economic potential, to enter a new phase of vibrant private sector-led growth. Our approach, I want to be clear, I think, is three.
“We are making a shift from aid to trade. We want to engage African nations not as aid recipients, but as capable commercial partners. For us, as our chief of African Affairs, Ambassador Latrell, said, going forward, we will continue to invest in development, but we will do so through expanding trade and private investment, because it is the private sector, not assistance, ultimately, that drives the final stage of economic growth. By promoting two-way trade and investment, we believe we can drive mutual growth for both our nations. So, as the US Ambassador to Nigeria, I’ve been given a key priority for my mandate to increase trade, increase investment, and increase business linkages between our two countries.”
Mills Jr. explained that, to reach this objective, the U.S. Department of Commerce partnered with Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment last year to sign a commercial and investment partnership agreement.
“The CIP is a five-year memorandum of understanding in which we prioritise with the Nigerian government three key pillars: agriculture, the digital economy, and infrastructure. I should point out that Nigeria is only one of five African nations with which the US has signed the CIP agreement. We are officially launching the partnership discussions later this month,” he noted.
He stated that the two governments have agreed to form working groups in agriculture, technology, and infrastructure. The ambassador also applauded the current administration for its openness and reform efforts.
“I want to commend the current leadership in Nigeria, both at the federal level and at many of the state levels. They listen to us when we come in and say, ‘This has been identified to us as a serious issue for US businesses,’ and I think that’s really important to put out — that we do have some listening, really listening, happening. I also want to say, I think the American business community — the US Mission — feels that we’ve seen some significant economic reforms in the last several years that have really improved the macroeconomic possibilities here,” he said.
Mills Jr acknowledged that the government’s reforms have been tough on Nigerians but expressed optimism that they will lead to positive results.
“I know they’ve been painful for a lot of Nigerians, but I do believe our assessment is that they will begin, hopefully, to have these green shoots grow into even more opportunities. We’ve also seen tax reform move forward, which again has been a big concern for US businesses.
“One US business told me that their operations in Nigeria, for instance, paid 67 different federal taxes — including a tax on wheelbarrows — which is some leftover from a different age. So the tax reform bill is very important. So those kinds of macroeconomic reforms — that’s what we wanted to see, what US businesses wanted to see,” he added.
