Why 4 prime U.S. officers visited Nigeria in October - Consulate

[ad_1]

America Consulate in Nigeria has defined the visits of 4 prime U.S. officers to Nigeria in October alone, whilst 2 others visited in August and September.

In keeping with an announcement launched by the Consulate on Sunday, the visits have been to strengthen the U.S.-Nigeria commerce and funding ties.

Particularly, the Consulate mentioned the go to of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (DAS) Pleasure Basu to Abuja and Lagos between October 18 and 20 was to affirm constructive financial reforms made by the Tinubu Administration, advocate for U.S. companies looking for to spend money on Nigeria and spotlight alternatives to deepen U.S.-Nigeria two-way commerce.

It added that the go to of Basu, who oversees Financial and Regional Affairs within the Division of State’s Bureau of African Affairs, builds upon months of sustained and operationally targeted high-level engagement surrounding the assembly of President Biden and President Tinubu on the G20 Summit in September.

In Lagos, Basu introduced collectively girls from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), banks, and enterprise capital companies to speed up efforts to bridge the financing hole for women-led SMEs.

Earlier official visits in October

Highlighting different visits by prime officers this October, the Consulate mentioned:

“On October 2-4, Senior Coordinator for Atlantic Cooperation Ambassador Jessye Lapenn visited Nigeria, her first international cease after the launch, to search out alternatives within the marine and blue financial system areas.
“U.S. African Growth Basis (USADF) CEO Travis Adkins visited Nigeria October 15-20 to deepen commerce and funding ties that may enhance incomes, revenues, and jobs by selling self-reliance and market-based options to poverty. The USADF is an impartial U.S. authorities company established by Congress to take a position instantly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs.
“The U.S. Commerce and Growth Company (USTDA) Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Director Heather Lanigan visited Nigeria October 16-19 to underscore the U.S. dedication to project-preparation actions that may construct Nigeria’s digital, well being, transport, and clean-energy infrastructure.”

Except for the highest U.S. authorities officers, the Consulate mentioned 12 executives from main U.S. pension fund and monetary service suppliers managing over $1 trillion in belongings had additionally travelled to Nigeria between October 9 and 13 as a part of a USAID-sponsored investor roadshow in partnership with the U.S. authorities’s Prosper Africa and Energy Africa initiatives.

The executives met with Nigerian firms and fund managers to discover funding alternatives within the nation, notably infrastructure, and to construct relationships amongst U.S. and African traders and fund managers.

Wally Adeyemo was round in September

Earlier in September, Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo, the highest-ranking Nigerian-American official within the Biden-Harris Administration, visited Nigeria between the 17th and 19th of the month to broaden enterprise and funding ties with a deal with entrepreneurship, youth growth, and girls’s empowerment. Adeyemo met with enterprise leaders and the tech startup neighborhood in Lagos with a promise to make sure that obstacles to investments between the 2 international locations are eliminated.

The Consulate added that World AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong, U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative Coordinator Dr. David Walton, and World Fund Govt Director Peter Sands accomplished a joint go to to Nigeria September 11-13 in a historic present of solidarity because the leaders of the most important donors to Nigeria’s HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria response efforts.

What you need to know

In keeping with the Workplace of the US Commerce Consultant, the U.S.-Nigeria commerce relation is mirrored within the following info:

America is the most important international investor in Nigeria, with U.S. international direct funding concentrated largely within the petroleum/mining and wholesale commerce sectors.
In 2022, the two-way commerce in items between the US and Nigeria totalled over $8.1 billion. At $3.4 billion in 2022, Nigeria is the second largest U.S. export vacation spot in Sub-Saharan Africa.
U.S. exports to Nigeria embrace automobiles, wheat, equipment, fuels, and plastics. Nigerian exports to the US embrace crude oil, cocoa, cashew nuts, and animal feed. 
A number of U.S.-based movie and leisure firms are lively in Nigeria, and Nigeria’s inventive industries have important export potential.
Nigeria is eligible for preferential commerce advantages below the African Development and Alternative Act (AGOA).