Ahead of the forthcoming Belgian Trade Mission to Nigeria from 16th to 21st October 2022 in Abuja and Lagos, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the kingdom of Belgium, Mr Obinna Onowu has held a meeting with Board members of the Belgium, Luxembourg, Nigeria Chamber of Commerce led by Mr Chris Amsson, the Chief executive officer of TDM Motors, Mr Nico van Dongen, representatives of Ebury , a fintech company exploring the possibility of investing in Nigeria, and other businesses.
The meeting held at the Embassy of Nigeria in Brussels discussed the Trade Mission and envisaged that over 30 Belgian companies will visit Nigeria to hold meetings with Nigerian partners in addition to sessions with government officials.
The main organiser of the Trade Mission is Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT). Flanders is one of the regions in Belgium.
The Belgium, Luxembourg, Nigeria Chamber of Commerce is Embassy’s partner, and is participating in the mission.
It would be recalled that Ambassador Onowu had in September, 2021 hosted members of Belgium Luxemburg Nigeria Chamber of Commerce (BLNCC) at an event tagged “Ambassador meet and Greet” where he said Nigeria is not only a major investment hub in Africa, but the largest economy in Africa .
Onowu described as impressive the 5.01% growth recorded in the second quarter of 2021, 92% of which was from the non-oil sector.
According to him “the present administration has worked tirelessly to diversify the economy beyond oil by creating opportunities for investment in the non-oil sector especially in the areas of agriculture, ICT, health, manufacturing, construction and other sectors with positive results. Investors in Belgium and Luxemburg should see Nigeria as their destination”.
Also while presenting his Letters of Credence to Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg in October last year, Ambassador Onowu stressed the need to deepen bilateral relations between Nigeria and Luxembourg, especially in the areas of Trade, Education, Health amongst others.
According to the 1st Quarter 2022 report of the National Bureau of Statistics, Belgium is a strategic trade partner of Nigeria and ranks among the top five countries of import.