The United States has reinforced its commitment to a stronger trade and investment ties with the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The development was made clear last week during the visit of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (DAS), Joy Basu, to Abuja and Lagos to discuss specific improvements to the business enabling environment.
In the course of the visit, she also affirmed positive economic reforms made by President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocated for U.S. businesses seeking to invest in Nigeria, as well as highlighted opportunities to deepen U.S.-Nigeria two-way trade.
Basu oversees Economic and Regional Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs.
A statement made avaliable to New Telegraph said in her inaugural visit to Nigeria, she met with Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, and convened government and private sector leaders in Abuja.
She emphasised that the U.S. Government was keen to facilitate U.S. investment into Nigeria and that additional reforms were needed to continue to create a transparent, trustworthy, and conducive investment climate.
While in Lagos, she brought together women from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), banks and venture capital firms to accelerate efforts to bridge the financing gap for women-led SMEs.
She convened intellectual property lawyers, creative industry experts, and Nigerian content creators to brainstorm structural changes that would better protect and monetize creative content.
She closed her trip by connecting U.S. tech startups to state government officials to explore opportunities to create a more connected and inclusive innovation ecosystem in Nigeria.
“We are building upon the rich connections that exist between our countries – our companies, our entrepreneurs, and our people – to co-create solutions to our common challenges.
“We look forward to working together to discover and deliver better ways forward, not only for the people of Nigeria and America, but also for communities around the world,” Basu said.
The statement added that her visit to Nigeria built upon months of sustained and operationally-focused high-level engagement surrounding the meeting of President Biden and President Tinubu at the G20 Summit in September.
At that meeting, President Biden welcomed the Tinubu Administration’s steps to reform Nigeria’s economy and thanked President Tinubu for his strong leadership as the chair of the Economic Community of West African States to defend and preserve constitutional order and the rule of law in Niger and the broader region.
In recent months, the United States has underscored its enduring commitment to strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship and expanding the prosperity of our peoples through several engagements, including: Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt; Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago; Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong, U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative Coordinator, Dr. David Walton, and Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands.
Others are Deputy Secretary of Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, among other exchanges to strengthen socio-economic relations.
