Interviewed By Joe Dinga Pefok
The Desk Manager of the Nigerian 
Export Promotion Council, Princess Estelle Igwe, has asserted that the trade relationship between Nigeria and Cameroon has been on a mutual basis, a win-win affair, so to speak. Princess Igwe is in Douala as part of a Nigerian Trade Mission that is to hold discussions with members of the business community in Cameroon from December 11-13 at Sawa Hotel. In an exclusive interview granted The Post at the Nigerian Consulate in Douala recently, Princess Igwe, among other things, stressed that African countries stand to benefit if they trade more among themselves than with Europe and other parts of the world. Excerpts:
The Post: We would like to know what brings you to Cameroon, and could
you throw light on the role of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council?
Princess Estelle Igwe: I am part of a Nigerian Trade Mission that is to
meet with the business community in Douala in particular and Cameroon
as a whole. In fact, I came ahead to join the Nigeria High Commission
and our Consulate Generals in Douala and Buea to put finishing touches
to the preparation for the business meetings.
The other members of the delegation from Nigeria will be coming in latest Monday, December 10. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council is a parastatal of the Nigeria Government specifically set up to promote non-oil exports.
Can you be more precise as to those being expected at the business meeting as well as how you intend to go about it? Also, what are your expectations?
Well, the Nigerian Trade Mission will include a senior member of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. There will also be some members of the Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives), who are members of the Commerce Committee. Then, of course, there will be the Nigerian businessmen. Also, the Nigerian business community in Douala and Yaounde are partnering with us from Nigeria.
As for the Cameroonian side, the mobilisation is being mainly done by the Chamber of Commerce, which among other things is mobilising its members to attend the business meeting. However, it is worth noting that besides the members of the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, the meeting will be open to all interested business persons in Cameroon.
Participation will be free. On the sidelines, there will be an exhibition of quite a number of products that our businessmen will be coming along with from Nigeria. Meanwhile, though the mission of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council is specifically to promote the export of Nigerian products to this our sister country, the seller-buyer discussion will be both ways.
If
something can be exported from Nigeria to Cameroon, nothing also stops
exports from Cameroon to Nigeria. The trade between the two countries
is supposed to be on a mutual basis. I hope that the business meeting
will be a win-win affair.
What are some of the major export products of Nigeria; what are some of
the products that Nigeria officially exports to this country?
Besides crude oil, Nigeria is also known for solid mineral products. In fact, we have quite a number of precious and semi-precious stones and so on. We are also strong in the domain of agricultural products. We export primary products like cocoa, rubber and so on. Our cassava too, is now making waves.
Actually, Nigeria has a long list of official export products. As for our exports to Cameroon, I also think that there are quite a number of products even though I cannot say that I have carried out a market survey here. But let me say that I had an interesting observation in 2005, when I coordinated the Nigerian delegation to Cameroon for the Promo Trade Fair in Yaounde.
It was interesting to note that almost all the products that our businessmen brought to the trade fair made waves. They included food products, dresses (African wear), movies from our film industry, cosmetic products, necklaces, earrings, slippers, leather shoes, among many others. It might interest you to know that the big appreciation of Nigerian products at that trade fair was one of the main things that gave us courage to set out to organise this visit.
But then, there appears to be some negative remarks here in Cameroon
about the quality of some Nigerian products like drugs, detergent and
so on. Some are said to be fake.
I rather think that the situation you are referring to is something of
the past as far as Nigeria is concerned.
The Nigerian Government had since taken some very serious measures in a bid to curb the presence of products of doubtful qualities on our markets. For example, talking about drugs, the Government has since created the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration Control, NAFDAC, to control the quality of drugs and food products. It is doing a formidable job, striving to ensure that Nigerian products meet the minimum international standard.
It is compulsory for all Nigerian products that have to be officially exported to carry the stamp of NAFDAC, certifying that they are of good quality. However, I am not by this saying that we no longer have quacks still hiding in the country with their fake products. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council strongly encourages business people wanting to buy products from Nigeria, to follow the path of official business.
By this I mean that the businessman should follow legal business procedures or go to a legalised market. When you come to Nigeria to buy goods and you do official business by going to the legalised places, or if you do business officially with a Nigerian exporter, you will not fall prey to quacks. Competent government institutions or services carry out regular controls in those official procedures and legalised markets, to ensure that all is okay with the products.
Let me stress that any businessman in any country, who wants
quality and value for his money, strives to go in for clean business.
If he follows the dirty way because he wants to make quick money, he is
also running the risk of being played a dirty game by his business
partner.
What is your appreciation of the level of trade among African countries?
It is a disturbing situation to observe that most African countries instead of trading more among themselves have rather been trading more with Europe and other parts of the world like Asia. It is indisputable that such a situation has not been to our interest. It is equally indisputable that African countries and the entire continent stand to benefit more if they trade more among themselves. This is the idea that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council is trying to promote.
It might interest you to know that this Nigerian Trade Mission coming to Cameroon today has also in recent years been to a number of African countries, and we still intend to carry out such missions to more of the other countries that we have not yet visited. I think this is what African countries should all be doing. The talk today in Africa should be that of going for a realistic continental integration.
I think one of the objectives of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa Development), is for African countries to increase trade among themselves. We just need to take a look at European countries and their European Union, EU, and see what a strong economic block Europe has become today.
The EU today can afford to dictate or impose unfair trade terms on African countries that are begging to do trade with European countries. Why can African countries not also do like European countries and their EU? After all, we have all it takes here on the continent.
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Posted by: Weekendnews3 | Thursday, 20 February 2020 at 04:54 AM