Nigeria, Germany strengthen economic ties at 11th German-Nigerian Business Forum

The 11th German-Nigerian Business Forum is focused on strengthening economic ties between both countries, by building partnerships for business development in energy, agriculture and construction, and vocational training.

The 11th German-Nigeria Business Forum which took place on Monday in Lagos, themed “Building Effective Partnerships for Successful Business Development” was organized by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, in collaboration with the German-African Business Association.

The forum had high-ranking officials, decision-makers, and business leaders from both Nigeria and Germany fostering discourse on enhancing bilateral trade relations.

The Consul General of the German Consulate, Veert Boerner, described the event as one of the most important annual business gatherings saying, “This is an annual event, this German-Nigeria Business forum is one of the most important business events during the year, where many companies, including government representatives and associations, can meet to improve Nigerian-German business relations.

“This forum is a get-together once a year, but every second year in Nigeria, the other year in Germany. So, it’s trying to draw more companies from both sides into the bi-lateral business relationship and to focus on certain issues like agriculture, construction, energy and environment.

“We hope that not only trade between the two countries will grow, but also that more companies from Germany invest in Nigeria. We already have a lot of companies who invest and build factories, and that more and more jobs are created in Nigeria for young Nigerians by German companies and this trend we want to increase” said Boerner.

In her remarks, Head of Market Entry at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce Nigeria, Deborah Egerue, explained, “The forum’s role in addressing sector-specific challenges and opportunities. Key areas such as agribusiness, energy, construction, and vocational training, reflecting Nigeria’s efforts to diversify its economy beyond oil dependence.

“Nigeria is a very important trading partner for Germany. Germany is a manufacturing economy while Nigeria is a consuming economy. What this forum aims to achieve is to create a platform that brings business people together, especially people that have business interest in Germany and in Nigeria, so we create the platform, bring them together to talk about selected sectors.

“What we do is we select certain sectors, like four to six sectors, we address these sectors and we address the opportunism, challenges that are inherent in such sectors and we get experts in these sectors to address these challenges and they try to proffer solutions to these challenges.

“We organize this platform that brings both the private sector and the public sector. The private sector is coming in from the business angle of things while the public sector is coming from the regulation point of view, policy point of view,” she added.

The director General of the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce, Marilyn Rupo, expressed optimism about the forum’s role in creating jobs and fostering business connections between the two nations.

Rupo said, “For us at the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce, we try and create a platform where we can foster business between Nigeria and Germany and today we partnered with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK). We are happy to partner with them to bring this conference and business forum to you today.

“This event is supposed to help us make more connections, more collaborations, more partnerships that will bring businesses together, create jobs. We are hoping that this would grow the economy. We are hoping that this brings comapanies stogether to share knowledge, particularly as German technology is quite high tech and very cutting-edge right now.”

As Germany and Nigeria continue to strengthen their economic ties, events like the German-Nigeria Business Forum play a crucial role in fostering mutual understanding, encouraging investment, and paving the way for sustainable economic growth in both nations.

The host, Ifunanya Igwe, in her opening remarks celebrated the strengthening economic and cultural ties between Nigeria and German, noting that the presence of prominent figures such as Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, represented by the secretary to the state government, Joseph Eboigbe, as well as representatives to the governors of Abia, Osun and Lagos state, and German Consul General Veert Boerner, is a testimony to that.

Bastian Lidzba, the President of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, in her address, acknowledged the sponsors of the event and thanked the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs for their continued support.

She also emphasized the importance of fostering partnerships to strengthen the economic relationship between the two countries.

President of the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce, Igbuan Okaiasabor, underscored the importance of partnerships in key sectors such as manufacturing, energy, and information technology.

He also called on participants to be proactive in seeking new opportunities for collaboration, adding, “I encourage everyone here to be proactive in seeking new opportunities for collaboration, to remain open to learning from each other to work together with a long term vision.”

The forum featured keynote addresses from the state representatives present. These speeches underscored the importance of collaboration in addressing challenges such as infrastructure deficits, skills gaps, and economic diversification.

Discussions centered on critical sectors, such as agribusiness renewable energy, construction, and vocational education. Also on focus were strategies for strengthening Nigeria’s agribusiness industry, enhancing energy efficiency, and improving vocational training programs to create scalable and sustainable initiatives.

Panelists also explored how German-Nigerian business relations could benefit from international financial institutions, focusing on facilitating access to finance for entrepreneurs and businesses.

The forum also served as a platform for connecting German companies with Nigerian opportunities. Adesua Ladoja, CEO of Lagos Free Zone, noted that trade volumes between Germany and Nigeria had surpassed $3 billion in 2023, with over 90 German companies now operating in Nigeria. She highlighted the importance of initiatives like the forum in fostering mutually beneficial partnerships.

The event had sponsors, with Lagos Free Zone being the Platinum Sponsor, Tropical General Investments Group being the Gold Sponsor and FAUN Kirchhoff Group as Silver Sponsor. Others were Siemens Energy, Nivea, Stren & Blan Partners, Evonik, Access bank, Krones, Lagos Continental and Deutsche Bank.