Usman Laments Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Trade Volume of $5m

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The president of the newly-establishment Nigeria-Saudi Arabia Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Mr Ibrahim Usman, has lamented the low trade volume between both countries despite their historical relationship.

Mr Usman expressed this frustration when he visited the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, at his office in Abuja.

He said at the moment, the trade volume between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia is about $5 million, promising to deepen the relations between the two countries.

“And whereas many Saudi investors are looking out for profitable investment windows in friendly countries like Nigeria, our businesses have been unable to capitalise on such opportunities due to lack of an organised, reliable, safe and very secure private sector platform like a chamber of commerce,” he said.

Mr Usman said a 60-member inter-ministerial delegation from Saudi Arabia will be in Nigeria next week for the second session of the Nigeria-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission, which will further create opportunities for the chamber to set up trade missions.

On his part, Mr Mohammed praised his guest for his effort to establish the organisation after over 10 years of trial, saying he has proven himself as a man of vision and deep conviction.

“Clearly from your presentation, it’s clear that the major objective is to change the narrative and ensure that the relations between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria should not be seen just from the narrow prism of Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage, but from the prism of two very important nations of the world creating a bridge through better cooperation for the two countries and their citizens,” the Minister said.

Mr Mohammed described the chamber as a clearing house for proposals from business people from the two countries in order to open new vistas for trade opportunities.

He said the absence of such a chamber has led to the decline in the volume of trade and also bred trust deficit between business people from the two countries.

“The absence of this vehicle has led to loss of businesses between the two countries and it has also aggravated the trust deficit between them,” he said.