The Head, European Union Delegation to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, Ambassador Michel Arrion, has stated that the value of trade relations between Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and the European Union currently stands at €40.4bn (N8.5tn).
Arrion, who spoke at the EU-Nigeria business forum in Lagos on Tuesday, said the block’s Foreign Direct Investment stock in Nigeria grew from €25.3bn (N5.3tn) in 2011 to €27.2bn (N5.7tn) in 2012.
“The EU is also Nigeria’s most important trading partner. In 2013 alone, the total EU-Nigeria trade stood at €40.4bn (N8.5tn). EU imports from Nigeria were valued at €28.7bn (N6tn), while EU exports to Nigeria stood at €11.8bn (N2.5tn),” he said.
Arrion, however, said that though Nigeria maintained a positive trade balance with the EU and the union remained the biggest market for both oil and non-oil exports from the country, including leather cocoa and sesame, among others, it was important to address the EU-Nigeria relationship towards a more diversified composition and a strengthened Economic Community of West African States regional market.
