Nigeria, Kenya to sign agreement to boost trade, tourism

 Nigeria had begun partnering with Kenya in the area of agriculture.

The Federal Government is set to sign a Joint Commission Cooperation (JCC) with the Kenyan Government to boost trade and investment between the two countries.

The Nigerian High Commissioner to Kenya, Akin Oyateru, said this on the sideline of the Kenya/United Bank for Africa Business Luncheon in Abuja on Monday.

Mr. Oyateru said that the cooperation of both countries would explore the various trade and investment opportunities, which he said, was “quite low”.

“When our two presidents meet tomorrow, assisted by their Foreign Ministers, we will be able to sign the joint commission cooperation agreement which is the mainframe work to regulate our relations with Kenya.

“You have the area of horticulture and floriculture and you know that Nigeria is one of the main importers of tea from Kenya; we do about N2 billion every year.

“The trade between Nigeria and Kenya is low compared to our political relations, but that is going to change when we sign the JCC.

“The turnover is in Kenya’s favour annually, we do a turnaround of about N6 billion, which is not much given the potential that we have.

“When we have that agreement on ground, it will be able to regulate the various multi-sections of our relations, and that will encourage more trade and investment between the two countries,” he said.

He said Nigeria had begun partnering with Kenya in the area of agriculture, adding that a Nigerian team would be visiting Kenya to explore the areas of wildlife and tourism.

“In the area of agriculture, we are aware of the potential of Kenya.

“Taraba is already into a Joint Venture with a farm called Dominion Farms, and they are trying to replicate what is in Kenya in the state.

“Not only with the Taraba Government but with other serious private partners, who have invested up to 100 million dollars into the project.

“A team is also coming from Nigeria to look at the area of conservation and wildlife tourism,” he said.

The high commissioner also said the JCC would launch a business forum where opportunities for investment between both countries would be maximised.

“When the JCC gets on board, in another 12 months, we will see a lot of improvement in the areas trade; with this we will have the first business meeting of the JCC very soon,” he added.

(NAN)