France Committed To Deepen Trade Ties With Nigeria

Consul General of France in Lagos, Laurent Favier, has indicated his commitment to deepen France’s economic and commercial relations with Nigeria.

This was disclosed by Favier at the CEO luncheon series three organised by the Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in partnership with KPMG in Lagos.

According to him, “Between France and Nigeria, we are not starting from scratch; we have been sharing a long-lasting relationship. Nigeria is, by far, France’s first partner in West Africa and the fourth on the whole continent immediately after Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

“Today, we have active French companies in Nigeria who generate 10,000 direct jobs and a lot of cash of course. We want to go further and match further. I know I can count on the tireless effort of our economic team, the chamber, the economic regional department at the embassy, the French development agency and business fronts.

“This is what we call team France, and you can count on us to strengthen our economic ties and to further advance French presence in Nigeria. The essence of the relationship means that it works both ways, which is why one of my second priorities in Nigeria is to strengthen the attractiveness of France for Nigerian investors. France must be seen as a fertile ground for investment opportunities for foreign companies and Nigerian companies are part of them.

“France has been ranked the most attractive country in Europe in the past four years in all attractiveness surveys. So, the room for our economic relations in Nigeria or France is a very huge one. I hope that each of the CEOs already involved in these relationships will be an ambassador to further deepening our business commitment. Let us work together as promoters of Nigerians in France and France in Nigeria.”

Chairman, KPMG West Africa, Tola Adeyemi, noted that CEOs should anticipate disruption, build a strong team and develop a strategic response to combat disruption at workplace.

Adeyemi stressed that a strategy for sustainable growth in the face of disruption is to listen to customers’ needs to grow, while innovation is vital to foster a culture of creativity. He further explained persistence is important to manage growth with focus on a long term goal, while CEOs must leverage partnerships that will help drive innovation.