A long, strong and friendly bilateral relationship with Nigeria, our active approach in promoting trade and economic relations that can be very beneficial for both countries, a very strong expertise, know-how and experience in education, health, innovation, technological solutions, social innovations, good governance, anti-corruption. With these, only sky is the limit in creating winwin opportunities for both countries.
What are your views on the state of the African economy?‘ Africa rising’ has been and is still the big trend. This is the up-and-coming continent. Challenges are still many, and external factors of world economy do not make the situation easy right now, but It is clear that Africa is growing in a significant way in economic importance, and companies have been looking much more towards this direction in recent times. In Finland, there is also a growing interest among companies to explore business opportunities in Africa. Focus is also little by little shifting from development cooperation to trade and business, and I think this is good for Africa. In years to come, we will still need some of the development cooperation, but I think it is much better if the relationship moveson to a more equal footing and more based on trade. There is no reason for that not to happen.
What are your views on the state of the Nigerian economy? Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa. You could say the country is in a class of its own in the continent. The Nigerian economy overall has been developing promisingly, even if one has to recognize that growth has not been as inclusive or economy as diversified as they should. At the moment Nigerian economy is in a challenging place, with the price of oil having dived, but I want to believe that the situation can also be an effective incentive for developing economy in a sustainable way, including diversification. Clearly, the new government in Nigeria is very strongly committed to and aiming at this. For businesses from Finland and elsewhere Nigeria is a very interesting place. There are challenges of course, but things are developing to the right direction. Tackling security and corruption challenges will do wonders to how the Nigerian business environment is seen outside the country. The people in Nigeria are incredibly enterprising and dynamic, and they seem to work at all hours. This Nigerian mentality is a very important aspect in making the most of the potential of the country, and it’ s actually very inspiring for me personally. Are there opportunities for more trade between Finland and Nigeria? There are lots of opportunities in various different sectors. Just now we are bringing into the country a business delegation that represents the sectors of ICT, education, health, cleantech, health, oil & gas and power. Health is one area where wehave focused on recently, the event on health and wellbeing that the embassy organized in Lagos in November is one example of that. Renewable energy, or waste treatment could be others, to mention some examples. Nigeria is a country with vast potential in all these areas, and many Finnish companies are very interested in exploring or expanding in the market.
What are some stumbling blocks to further exploiting these potentials? Security and corruption are the main things. Infrastructure, including power supply is another. Companies are looking for a reasonably predictable and well-functioning business environment. With improvements in these areas, Nigeria can be even more interesting for foreign businesses. We must thank you very much for your time and we look forward to greater cooperation between Nigeria, Africa and Finland. We believe Africa has a lot to learn from Finland because of the values that Finland represents as there aren’ t too many rich or too many poor people. We all have a lot to learn from each other. I am learning every day in Nigeria.
30 | PRTIMES AFRICA MARCH 2016