….Bilateral commerce hits £7.2bn amid rising confidence in Tinubu’s insurance policies
The UK has reaffirmed its confidence in Nigeria’s financial trajectory, declaring that President Tinubu’s sweeping reforms are boosting investor confidence and remodeling the nation right into a strategic hub for British commerce and funding.
Richard Montgomery, British Excessive Commissioner to Nigeria, gave the remarks throughout a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the place he described Nigeria as “an more and more necessary nation and anchor within the area,” as a consequence of its financial coverage overhaul, inhabitants progress, and assertive presence on the worldwide stage.
“Our headline as we speak is that these financial reforms are paying off. They’re making Nigeria extra investable.
“I realise that a few of these reforms for bizarre individuals are painful. Inflation remains to be excessive within the 20% territory, and. It’s going to take time to convey that down, however we will see excellent prospects for that charge coming down within the coming months and years,” Montgomery stated.
“We’re already seeing renewed curiosity from UK traders and companies,” he added.
Montgomery praised the abolition of gasoline subsidies and the unification of trade charges, citing enhancements in macroeconomic stability. “The naira is now extra secure. International trade reserves are up. Predictability is returning to the market—and predictability permits funding,” he stated.
He referenced the World Financial institution’s newest financial replace on Nigeria, which highlighted elevated authorities income, a discount in fiscal deficits, and improved state-level funding. “Federal allocations to states have doubled, enabling extra infrastructure and public service funding,” he famous.
Current financial indicators additionally present rising enterprise confidence. Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.84% within the final quarter of 2024. The Buying Managers Index is climbing, pointing to enlargement and job creation, Montgomery stated.
Commerce between the UK and Nigeria now stands at £7.2 billion and is predicted to develop beneath the Enhanced Commerce and Funding Partnership (ETIP), a framework signed in 2024 to strengthen bilateral business ties.
Montgomery recognized monetary providers, know-how, vitality, healthcare, and inventive industries as key progress areas, whereas additionally highlighting agriculture and schooling as priorities for UK engagement in Nigeria.
“The UK has eliminated tariffs on over 3,000 Nigerian export merchandise. We’re decided to assist Nigeria’s progress story and create win-win outcomes,” he stated.
He additionally outlined Britain’s personal reform agenda—centered on tax competitiveness, regulatory simplification, and long-term investor confidence—as a mannequin for world partnerships.
“That is about constructing lasting prosperity. The UK is able to stroll with Nigeria, step-by-step,” Montgomery burdened.
In his remarks, Mark Smithson, UK Nation Director for the Division for Enterprise and Commerce (DBT) in Nigeria, strengthened Britain’s dedication to deepening commerce ties with Nigeria, describing the present £7.2 billion partnership as “vibrant, multidimensional, and strategically very important.”
He highlighted that Nigeria is the UK’s second-largest buying and selling accomplice in Africa and its largest export market on the continent.
“This underscores why, in February, we signed the Enhanced Commerce and Funding Partnership (ETIP)—the primary of its form in Africa and considered one of solely two globally,” Smithson burdened.
ETIP, he famous, was co-created with the Nigerian authorities and aligns intently with each President Tinubu’s financial agenda and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s progress technique.
“It’s not only a paper dedication. It’s a working framework to drive job creation, increase funding, and take away commerce limitations like complicated customs procedures and quotas,” he stated.
Smithson highlighted the eight key sectors focused beneath ETIP, together with clear progress, schooling, inventive industries, agriculture, finance, authorized providers, and regulatory cooperation. “We’re already seeing outcomes,” he added, citing the launch of the UK-Nigeria Enterprise Dialogue and the creation of a Inventive Industries Working Group co-chaired by UK Commerce Envoy Florence Eshalomi MP.
UK companies are additionally making ground-level influence, he stated. “Firms like Konexa and Stomaco are delivering clear vitality initiatives, Elephant Healthcare is digitising public well being methods in Kaduna, and UK academic manufacturers like Charterhouse have arrived—with extra on the way in which.”
He additionally revealed that greater than 90 Nigerian startups have registered to attend this yr’s London Tech Week, Europe’s largest know-how gathering, highlighting the rising synergy in digital innovation.
“That is only the start. Each our economies stand to learn enormously,” Smithson informed journalists.
Additionally talking, Zahrah Audu, Director-Common of the Presidential Enabling Enterprise Setting Council (PEBEC), strengthened Nigeria’s dedication to making a clear, aggressive, and investor-friendly financial system.
She described the Enhanced Commerce and Funding Partnership (ETIP) as a significant platform to deepen bilateral cooperation and cut back longstanding commerce limitations.
“The UK stays probably the most revolutionary economies on the earth,” Audu stated. “Nigeria, with its giant inhabitants and dynamic entrepreneurial base, stands as a strategic accomplice for bilateral financial progress.”
She emphasised that since PEBEC’s inception in 2016, it has led over 200 reforms aimed toward eradicating bureaucratic bottlenecks, enhancing transparency, and bettering Nigeria’s world enterprise competitiveness.
Audu pointed to latest milestones such because the Enterprise Facilitation Act of 2022, the rollout of the Regulatory Impression Evaluation (RIA) Framework, and the institution of small claims courts to speed up business dispute decision for MSMES.
She famous that the RIA, launched beneath her management, ensures all new business-related insurance policies bear rigorous scrutiny earlier than implementation — a transfer she stated mirrors the UK’s regulatory simplification agenda.
“Our work on the federal stage is being matched by coordinated efforts throughout states,” Audu added, citing the $750 million State Motion on Enterprise Enabling Reforms (SABRE) program supported by the World Financial institution.
Whereas acknowledging continued challenges — together with infrastructure gaps, entry to finance, and lingering notion points — Audu stated proactive communication, just like the UK-Nigeria dialogue, helps reset world narratives about doing enterprise in Nigeria.
PEBEC’s collaboration with the UK Excessive Fee’s enterprise and commerce unit, she stated, has already yielded outcomes.
“Collectively, we will scale influence and guarantee our financial partnerships ship measurable advantages for companies and residents alike,” she acknowledged.
