Details about the itinerary of the maiden official visit to Nigeria by the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have been unfolded.
Okonjo-Iweala arrived in Nigeria on Saturday at the start of a five-day working visit.
She had indicated on arrival in Abuja that she was on Nigeria to appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari’s backing for her race to the WTO DG seat.
She had also pledged that the WTO would assist Nigeria in improving its economy.
She has been formally confirmed to hold discussions with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, March 15.
Similarly, on related occasions, she has been scheduled to engage other top players in public and private sectors, including ministers on how to deploy the WTO and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in improving trade and the economy.
Okonjo-Iweala was accompanied on the visit from Geneva, Switzerland by some ambassadors, including those from the Republic of Barbados and Cameroon.
In a short interview with journalists at the airport, she said her visit was to see how to better leverage the WTO and AfCFTA to assist Nigeria and entrepreneurs to improve the economy, expressing optimism that Nigeria could use the AfCFTA to boost trade and investment.
According to her: “I am not going to give you all the points for the visit today; I know you want them. But what we are trying to do indeed is how to boost Nigeria’s share of trade in Africa. We hope to be able to use the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to improve our trade, and of course, to do that you have to improve our investment.
“We have to add value to some of our products. This continental free trade agreement is a unique opportunity for us to be able to engage commercially with other African nations and that will boost our exports. Then, when you boost exports, you will create more jobs.
“We are also going to talk about digital economy and how our young people are accessing the Internet for e-commerce. Those are some of the issues. What can we do to support more of that and generate more activities?”
On her itinerary, she said she would meet with President Buhari and several top government officials as well as players in the private sectors, including women entrepreneurs.
Read her: “I will meet with His Excellency, the President; the Chief of Staff; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; the Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Finance; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Organised Private Sector as well as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and women entrepreneurs.
“I will like to meet with the women, and the whole objective is to see how the WTO can better assist Nigerian and Nigerian entrepreneurs with respect to improving the economy.”
According to the itinerary of her visit released by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okonjo-Iweala, who assumed office on March 1, 2021 is scheduled to meet with President Buhari; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Industry Trade and Investment Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo on Monday.
On Tuesday, she is billed to meet with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele; the Presidential Task on COVID-19 head by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and the Director General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chinwe Ihekweazu as well as captains of industries.
The WTO DG is also to meet with women entrepreneurs, and MSMEs players.
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