Through the efforts of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the country is ready to strengthen bilateral trade relations with the Cote D’Ivoire business community.
Iyalode Alaba Lawson, 2nd deputy national president, NACCIMA, disclosed the country’s willingness to partner with the Ivory Coast business community during the courtesy visit of Toure Kone Maman, Cote D’Ivoire’s ambassador to Nigeria and Benin Republic.
Lawson, who commended Cote D’Ivoire on its giant strides on agriculture, said the Nigeria, like any other developing countries in the world, has tremendously improved with numerous opportunities in agriculture, oil & gas, telecommunication and power.
According to her, the Ivorian business community can swoop on many opportunities in the country to increase margins, expressing confidence on the initiative and willingness of Cote D’Ivoire business community to partner with their Nigerian counterparts.
She called on the visiting ambassador to persuade her country’s businessmen and women through the chamber of commerce platform to visit Nigeria in order to explore areas of partnership and possible investment.
Also speaking, Toure Kone Maman said Cote D’Ivoire is committed to building partnership with Nigeria as a big brother, especially in the area of agriculture and trading between the two countries.
The ambassador, who recalled the state visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Cote D’Ivoire in 2013, said that a Memorandum of Understanding for Joint Commission and seven agreements were signed by the two countries during the visit.
Maman said she was in the NACCIMA Secretariat to share her country’s progress in the area of cocoa, cashew and coffee production as well as enlist NACCIMA’s support and participation in their forthcoming ‘SARA’ Agriculture Exhibition scheduled for April 2015 in Abidjan.
She said, apart from participating in the exhibition, there would be a platform for Nigerian businessmen and women to have B2B meeting with their Ivorian counterparts.
Maman noted that her country has equally created the single window for registration of businesses and reduced tax from 35 per cent to 25 per cent.
ODINAKA ANUDU
