Canadian High Commissioner Visits Obasanjo, Seeks More Trade Relations with Nigeria
James Sowole in Abeokuta
The Deputy High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, Teshome Nkrumah, has disclosed that the home country could do better in improving the current volume of trade, which presently stood at $2.7b.
Nkrumah disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Penthouse residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
In a statement by Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Nkrumah said his visit to the former President was as a result of his position, as a renowned farmer in the state.
Nkrumah, who is responsible for the Commercial Relationship between Canada and Nigeria, which was part of the Canadian Trade policy, was on regional outreach to Abeokuta, which was meant to boost trade between the two countries.
“We are on agricultural outreach to try to find out the opportunities in local market to do business and boost trade between the two countries. We are meeting business people, entrepreneurs just to see where the opportunities are.
“And I am pleased to meet with the largest farmer in the State and former President. We had a nice conversation, shared his views about how to really grow the farming industry in Nigeria and we are working towards achieving synergy between Canada and Nigeria.
“We are here to build bridges, make connections and see where we can make changes to move trade between both countries forward,” the High Commissioner said.
On the state of trade between the two countries, he said, “Currently, I think we can do so much better. There is $2.7b of trade between our two countries and happily it is in favour of Nigeria. $ Two billion is for Nigeria export from Canada and about $700m is for export from Canada to Nigeria.
“But, there is still more to grow in terms of opportunities. If we are very much focus and structured and look for where to grow opportunities we can still see our export grow,” he said.
