The Consul-General of the United States Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, Will Stevens, has said that Nigeria and the United States have a $10bn annual trade relationship.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the African Growth and Opportunity Act workshop with Proper Africa in Lagos, Steven disclosed that the US and Nigeria have an incredibly balanced trade relationship.
“The United States and Nigeria have an incredibly balanced trade relationship almost 50-50 which means we are equal partners. So it’s almost a $10bn yearly trade relationship, about $5bn from the US to Nigeria and $5bn from Nigeria to the US. But $3.8bn of that in AGOA is oil-related products and we want to see more,” he said.
He stated that despite the two countries’ balanced trade relationship, most of the trade under AGOA between them comes from the oil and gas sector.
According to him, the oil and gas sector represents less than 8 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, “so where is the rest of your economic activity, and why is it not being exported to the United States?” Steven explained that AGOA gives exporters unfettered access to the US market, which represents 27 per cent of the global economy, stressing that the State of California is the third largest economy in the world.
“I think Texas is the seventh largest economy, and New York is like the ninth largest economy,” he said
“So when you get access to that US Market duty-free, sort of a unilateral trade concession that we are giving, you are getting access to a quarter of the global economy. So if you can get one per cent market shares in New York State, that’s bigger than almost the entire economy of Nigeria,” the consular-general explained.
He disclosed that the US is committed to the AGOA initiative adding that one of the good things about Prosper Africa is it brings together the entire U.S. government.
Steven emphasized that Prosper Africa helps grow bilateral trade and investment between Africa and the United States.
“It’s not just us selling our stuff to you but helping you sell your stuff to us. That’s the cool thing about Prosper,” he mentioned.
“We are focused on both parts. We know that as you can enter our market and create exports, you bring in hard currency, you raise the standards of the products that you are developing because if you can succeed in the U.S. market, you can succeed in the Asian market, you can succeed in the European market. So, please, think about how you can bring your business to the United States, how you can use AGOA, and make connections with each other,” local media reports quoted Steven as saying..
Earlier, the Deputy US Trade Representative for Africa, Osvaldo Gomez-Martinez, explained that AGOA offers a great opportunity for African nations, including Nigeria, to access the U.S. market duty-free.
He explained that as one of the largest economies in Africa with a diverse and rapidly growing private sector, Nigeria has the potential to significantly increase its exports to the United States.
“While the oil sector has long dominated trade between our nations, accounting for about 98 per cent of Nigeria’s $3.8bn exports under AGOA the future lies in expanding beyond this sector and embracing the full spectrum of AGOA eligible products,” he said.