Indonesia and Nigeria have engaged in transactions in the sum of 4.7 billion dollars, exceeding earmarked expectations of 4 billion dollars.
This information was revealed by the President of the Nigerian-Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), Mr. Ishmael Balogun, during the Equipment and Manufacturing West Africa 2023 Exhibition and Conference on Wednesday in Lagos.
During the inaugural edition of the Nigerian Indonesia Trade Forum (NITF) in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, the chamber agreed to look into the businesses between the two nations, pegged at 2.8 billion dollars.
This is in line with a pledged collaboration between NICCI and many countries to establish a chance for Nigerian entrepreneurs and boost economic advancement. Among the many countries are Qatar, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates
The president of the NICCI, Mr. Balogun further went on to say that there should be industrial clusters designed and renewable energy adoption which are imperative.
They also asked the Federal Government to consider the manufacturing industry’s requirements to increase the industry’s ability to add to the country’s GDP. The chamber believes the sector has the ability to contribute grossly to the economy.
In addition to that, the president said the government should establish industrial groups recognized by a community of a particular core value. These clusters, would boost revenue and curb crime, to a degree, engender shared power supply, and human and natural resources, due to gainful employment of people.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Cooperatives, Lagos, Mrs. Adetutu Ososanya, confirmed the state government’s dedication to the reconstruction of present industrial groups, attracting investors and established partners to create energy generation for small businesses.
However, she said the present industrial groups in the state cannot meet up with demand, and as such the state is meeting with prospective partners to create more groups and boost industrialization.
Though the country made severe losses during the Covid-19 period, it produced a trade excess for the first time in three years showing that the country’s export trade is slowly moving its way up.
The business data signifies Nigeria’s export shut up by 41.7% to N26.8 trillion naira in the review year in comparison to imports which shut up by 22.5% to N25.5 trillion naira. The country’s external trade went up by N52.4 trillion naira last year, showing a boost of 31.8% in comparison to N39.75 trillion naira in the former year.
These figures, show a trade excess of N1.2 trillion naira, marking it the first since the Covid-19 period. In fact, the country marked a consecutive shortfall in 2020 and 2021 when imports were in surplus of exports with a sum of Nj178.2 billion and 1.9 trillion naira respectively.
Nigeria’s prime export terminus was Europe earning up about N11.7 trillion during the year. Asia was next on line with N8 trillion.
