Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies, will have its first independent booth at the China International Trade in Services Fair (CIFTIS), a Nigerian trade official told the Global Times.
2024 CIFTIS is the first large-scale international comprehensive exhibition to be held after the 3rd General Assembly of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This underscores China’s commitment to further opening up to the world and its readiness to share the benefits of economic growth.
The event saw enthusiastic participation from all over the world, with 13 countries and international organizations, including Nigeria, Portugal and France, setting up independent booths at CIFTIS for the first time.
“This is the first time Nigeria is joining CIFTIS. We look forward to leveraging the CIFTIS platform to showcase Nigeria’s services sector to the world. At this point, our expectations are , Nigeria-China relations remain friendly and continue to improve,” Ibrahim Akopari Ahmed, Trade Commissioner for Nigeria Regional Investment and Trade Authority (Asia), told the Global Times on Friday.
“Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest economies, with the services sector contributing the most to GDP, accounting for over 50% of gross domestic product (GDP). In this respect, we are number one in Africa,” said Ahmed.
Several Nigerian companies displayed musical instruments and communication services at their booths, highlighting Nigeria’s growing presence in the technology sector.
“We are trying to demonstrate to the Chinese business community that we can have a win-win situation and mutual benefits,” the trade commissioner said.
The booth was set up at the China National Conference Center in Beijing, where the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was recently held.
“We hope that FOCAC and CIFTIS will contribute to strengthening and improving China-Nigeria trade relations and that our service sector will also be fully exposed to the Chinese business community,” said Ahmed. Ta.
“Maybe next time we will have a silver screen in our booth (to introduce the film industry),” Ahmed said.
On Wednesday, China’s General Administration of Customs announced the import permit for Nigerian groundnuts for processing, further expanding the scope of bilateral trade. Nigeria is China’s third largest trading partner in Africa and one of its major investment destinations in Africa. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bilateral trade in 2023 reached $22.56 billion.
