The UK's Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, gave a statement during Nigeria's Trade Policy Review.
Chair, thank you very much and let me also welcome the Permanent Secretary very warmly and his enormous team here. It is great to see you all here. I promise you the weather is normally much better. Let me also express my gratitude to the team from Nigeria and the team from the Secretariat for their respective reports. To you, Chair, for your insightful comments and of course to our Discussant, who was as ever, as you said, elegant, eloquent and clear. We shall miss her greatly. But I still have hopes for lobbying to keep her.
Bilateral Trade
Just last week, my Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, was in Nigeria. Indeed, it was his first visit to Africa as Foreign Secretary. Of course it was perfectly timed, deliberately timed, just ahead of this Trade Policy Review.
The core mission of our new government is growth. And therefore it was an entirely logical place to go because, as we know, Nigeria is on track to be the world's fifth largest economy by 2075. Most of us here may no longer be around to see it, but never mind, it is a tremendous prospect. Just over 60% of Nigerians are under the age of 25. Home to the consumers and workers who are going to power 21st-century growth. And David Lammy was clear that trade and investment is what gives people jobs. Both in the UK and in Nigeria. So, this is the lens through which we are approaching this trade policy review today.
As part of his visit last week, David Lammy launched consultations on our government's new approach to Africa. And that consultation will, we hope, guarantee that our relationships across Africa, including of course Nigeria, are based on mutual respect and on partnership.
And as an early demonstration of that commitment to partnership, on 4 November, he signed a UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership. A comprehensive framework for jointly achieving our shared objectives and further strengthening our already flourishing, vibrant bilateral relationship. It builds on our Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership, signed in February of this year.
Reports Analysis
Under this Strategic Partnership we have committed to working together to identify opportunities for mutual economic growth, including through reducing barriers to trade. And this is where this organisation - and today's discussion - has a crucial role to play.
So we are pleased to see from the reports, and from the Permanent Secretary's introduction, that the Nigerian economy continues to go from strength to strength, despite the various challenges it has faced whether it be Covid-19 or fluctuating commodity prices. Trade as a proportion of GDP up from 27 to 35% over the review period, demonstrating once again the economic benefits that flow from deeper and more open free trade.
Increased diversification - so crucial for economic growth - has seen manufacturing and agriculture grow in economic importance, and we would like to congratulate Nigeria on its continued infrastructure investment in areas such as energy, housing and transport.
We also welcome, as we gather in Baku, Nigeria's decreasing reliance on oil and gas exports. Greener growth is a core part of our new Strategic Partnership, and we look forward to continuing to work with Nigeria to generate investment and jobs in the new growth: sustainable manufacturing, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy.
Business Environment
We also welcome Nigeria's efforts on challenging, but necessary, economic reforms. And the Permanent Secretary said a word at the beginning about that. In particular, we have been pleased to see the work done to improve the monetary policy environment and the removal of fuel subsidies. However, to be honest Permanent Secretary, we would like you to go even further and faster.
For example, there are concerns around the impact of state-owned enterprises on the business environment. As the Secretariat noted in its report, as of 2022 around 40 state-owned enterprises were operating in key sectors like energy. These state-owned enterprises, to be honest, often employ market distorting practices and benefit from unfair competition in our view.
Other concerns that British businesses investing in Nigeria have raised include examples of harmful subsidies, forced technology transfer, discriminatory enforcement of competition policy and of complex regulatory barriers. And we have indeed picked up on some of those issues and concerns in our Advanced Written Questions.
So we would encourage our Nigerian colleagues to address these harmful practices in order to boost investment, boost trade, improve its business environment and ultimately increase Nigerian prosperity.
AfCFTA
One agreement that is, in our view, already benefitting the country's economic and business environment is, as others have mentioned, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). We congratulate Nigeria on commencing commercially meaningful trade under the Agreement by joining the Guided Trade Initiative on 16 July.
We, in the UK, are proud to have supported the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office on reaching this milestone and we are currently supporting the implementation of the Digital Trade Protocol flowing from the Agreement, which is an ambitious and comprehensive framework designed to facilitate digital trade and unlock the potential of the digital economy right across the continent. According to the joint World Bank-WTO Policy Note last year on digital trade in Africa, if African countries were to improve their digital regulatory environment to that of the best on the continent, trade costs could fall by 17% in goods and 25% in business and professional services. So, we look forward to Nigeria implementing that Digital Trade Protocol to the benefit of its businesses, its consumers and its future growth.
And it would be remiss of me as one of the co-chairs of the Informal Working Group on Gender not to say how pleased I am to hear about the steps you have taken to promote women's economic empowerment. As a little practical example, I was delighted to hear the recent story of Madam Chinwe Izenwa. A 73-year-old female entrepreneur and CEO of LeLook, a bags and fashion accessories company, who was the first Nigerian, I understand, to use the AfCFTA's Guided Trade Initiative. She has even given herself the nickname 0001, as she holds the first Agreement certificate of origin. An excellent example of Nigeria's action on women's economic empowerment, delivering real world benefits.
WTO and Multilateral Institutions
Closer to home, as others have done, we welcome Nigeria's proactive and constructive engagement in this organisation. Nigeria is a friend of the multilateral system and a partner to us all.
And, of course, right at the heart of that is the significant contribution of this organisation's most renowned Nigerian - our beloved DG - where let me echo your comments, Chair, about her resourceful and enthusiastic leadership of this organisation, which we look forward to continuing. And we should not forget, indeed, our beloved Ambassador Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid, who, when not presiding over this distinguished Committee, has done so much right across this organisation to bring us his wisdom and his energy.
Outside of this room, we would particularly note Nigeria's efforts on Dispute Settlement - as the Africa Group's focal point - and on Fisheries.
Nigeria has been a strong ally in plurilateral negotiations, whether on Services Domestic Regulation, Investment Facilitation for Development and e-commerce. While we may not always see eye to eye, Nigeria has, rightly, kept our feet to the fire in ensuring that those plurilateral outcomes are balanced for all Members. Thanks to Nigeria's input we can be confident that the agreements reached are a fair compromise of ambition, commercial value and inclusivity. We were glad to have reached a stabilised text on e-commerce this summer. We welcome your confirmation, Permanent Secretary, this morning that consultations are ongoing back in Nigeria and we hope to count you as one of the Agreement's founding parties as we move swiftly forward towards legal incorporation.
Thank you, also, for your efforts on the e-commerce moratorium showing why it is so important for your development and for that of countries across the world.
Conclusion
So let me finish by encouraging Nigeria to continue its reform efforts and end by quoting what I believe is an old Nigerian proverb: 'Only the things for which you have struggled will last.' So let's keep struggling. Thank you.
