By Victor Gotevbe, Publisher and Nathaniel Gotevbe, Correspondent.
Building partnership for growth and job creation was the spotlight for this Year’s EU Nigeria Business Forum held at Eko Hotel, Lagos. The 7th edition of the forum attracted people from all walks of life including government officials, business executives, diplomats,Policy experts and the Media. Various panel discussions and key note presentations were made anchored on why there is an European Business Organization (EBO) in Nigeria; Effective Dialogue between Private and Public Sector; Circular Economy: Exploring Opportunities for Nigeria and leveraging innovative financial instruments to attract investments to Nigeria.
Photo credit: Adeboye Oluwatosin
Diplomatic Watch spoke with some of the delegates who expressed their confidence that the Forum reassures that EU-Nigeria partnership will assist Nigeria’s target of recognizing barriers toward enhancing the ease of doing business ranking and giving solutions to these challenges. Also, Nigeria can join other countries in identifying and optimizing opportunities in the Circular Economy. The discussion on some financial instruments and tools offered by Development banks and the International institutions to attract investments to Nigeria armed them with the knowledge that helps to de-risk investment and catalyze the private sector.
Some dignitaries present were : Ambassador Richard Young, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medeme, President, European Business Organization; Mr. Afolabi Imoukhuede, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment, Office of the Vice President; Mrs. Yewande Sadiku, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC); Representative of Mrs. Onyeche Tifase, MD/CEO of Siemens Nigeria; Mr. Simon Melchior, CEO, Asseco Software Nigeria; Mr. Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director, Financial Derivatives; Ms. Astrid Schomaker, Director, Global Sustainable Development, European Commission DG Environment; Dr. Lawrence Chidi Anukam, DG/CEO, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA); Mr. Michel Purchercos, CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc; and Dr. Kwadwo Owusu-Sarfo, Regional Head of Sales and Business Development, BASF West Africa.
Others include: Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh, MD, Unilever Nigeria Plc; Mr. Christian Wessels, CEO, Sunray Ventures; Mr. Ebrima Faal, Country Director, African Development Bank (AFDB); Mr. Juan Casla Urteaga, EIP Secretariat, European Commission; Mr. Andreas Voss, Deutsche Bank, Chief Country Representative , Nigeria; Mrs Eme Essien, Country Director, International Finance Cooperation (IFC); and Mr. Muda Yusuf, Director General, Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) amongst others.
