EU Urges Nigerian SMEs to Tap into €80Bn Research & Innovation Programme

The European Union (EU) at its ‘5th EU-Nigeria Business Forum’ (EUNBF2016) has unveiled plans to extend its research and innovation programme with 80 billion Euros to Nigerian entities, including SMEs, seeking support to engage in research and innovation.

The European Union and Nigeria have developed robust economic relations with very large trade volumes at €30 billion in 2015.

The EU is also the top destination for oil and non-oil exports from Nigeria. Nigeria is also a key beneficiary of EU Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with FDI stock of €30 billion in 2015.

EU Investment stock in Nigeria grew from €23.8 billion in 2013 to €25.3 billion in 2014.

But, with the fall in oil prices, EU-Nigeria trade declined by 26.7% to €30bn in 2015, with the EU offering to support Nigerian entities supports to engage in research and innovation, particularly in agricultural sector.

Declaring the EUNBF2016 open the two-day 5th EU-Nigeria Business Forum held in Lagos, Nigeria, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, executive governor of Lagos State, said that since the conclusion of the fourth edition in 2015, the nation’s economy has experienced significant development, the most critical of which is the slide into recession.

To this end, Governor Ambode who was presented by Mr. Tunji Bello, secretary to the State Government (SSG), said this year’s edition of the Forum was coming at the auspicious moment and provides a unique opportunity for participants for participants to offer suggestions that will help in turning around the fortunes of the nation’s economy.

He however pledged the State Government’s commitment to providing critical infrastructures that will make doing business in Lagos State a pleasurable and profitable experience for investors.

Ambassador Michel Arrion, head, EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS disclosed that the inclusion of Nigerian entities to partake in the 80 billion Euros research and innovation, particularly on agriculture, was informed by the country’s most obvious comparative advantage for the diversifying her economy.

The Forum is organised by the EU Delegation in close liaison with the 20 EU Member States represented in Nigeria, to allow business leaders and policy makers to discuss ways to improve the business environment and to attract European investments in Nigeria.

Arrion described the Horizon 2020 programme as the biggest EU research and innovation programme with 80 billion Euros and offers Nigerian entities (including SMEs) seeking support to engage in research and innovation, in particular again in agricultural sector.

Speaking specifically on the Forum, he expressed delight that the most tangible result of last year's forum was the commencement of an agricultural policy dialogue between the EU and Nigeria.

According to him, “The agricultural policy dialogue was officially launched in September, and is gradually intensifying, as witnessed by the presence this week in Nigeria (and today here at the Forum) of Mr Clarke, the Director of International Relations of the Directorate General for Agriculture of the European Commission.

“Mr Clarke and his team had fruitful meetings with Honorable Minister Ogbeh and other representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture with a view to promote responsible investments in the agribusiness sector and to attract more European investments into this key sector.

“In this context, I am also pleased to announce that on February next year, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, will lead a business delegation to Nigeria seeking for opportunities to invest locally in agribusiness”.

On her part, Dr. (Mrs) Nike Akande, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said that the subject of discussion at the Business Forum touched at the heart of Nigeria’s current economic reform and recovery efforts of government, especially in the areas of electricity, industrialization and SMEs’ growth.

“The Business Forum also aligns very well with the trade promotion agenda of the LCCI which is focused on building international partnerships and alliances for the promotion of investment and trade flows between Nigerian economy now than ever before. We need to attract as much investment as we can at this crucial time,” she said.

The LCCI President reiterated that Nigeria and EU have a long history of cordial economic and business ties and should be sustained, calling on EU investors to put lesser emphasis on risks and impediments in the Nigerian market and pay attention to the huge opportunities and potentials in the economy.

According to the Organisers, this year’s edition of the EUNBF, tagged "Harnessing Nigeria's Potential for Economic Growth", has been put together with three main objectives: to explore options for accessing long term finance for the critical power sector in Nigeria; to identify opportunities in the textile value chain and to explore opportunities for EU and Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to increase their businesses market through the platform of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).

Highpoint of the Business Forum was the formal launch of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Nigeria, a platform resulting from a consortium of the Nigerian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce, the Chambers of Commerce of Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.