Monday, April 30, 2018 9.20AM /
Proshare WebTV
As President
Donald Trump of the United States of America and leader of the globe’s leading democracy, plays host to
President Muhammad Buhari of Nigeria, and leader of Africa's largest democracy
today, a lot is at stake while opportunities abound for both nations.
Despite the
'America First Stance' of President Trump, in the 21st century nations have
come to the realization that isolationism is not tenable.
The United States
and Nigeria have enjoyed a long standing relationship that has endured decades,
and this meeting of the two leaders opens a new chapter for strengthening the
alliance &
fostering trade.
There are a lot of
expectations on what should be discussed, but in this article we highlight 7
areas that should be explored;
Economic
Diplomacy
Recently Nigeria
launched the National Economic Diplomacy Initiative(NEDI),
which is geared towards repositioning Nigeria's missions across the
globe as centres of economic relations, as well as engaging the diaspora.
President Buhari
as the chief marketing officer of the nation, will have the platform to share
with his American counterpart, the immense opportunities for investments in
Nigeria.
This must go
beyond Oil & Gas into areas like reviewing how Nigeria is benefitting from
the African Growth Opportunity Act(AGOA), developed by the United States.
If there is an
opportunity for an engagement with the Nigerian Diaspora in the United States,
it will be President Buhari's call to pitch Nigeria.
At a time of
Global liquidity glut, economist Dr Ayo Teriba believes Nigeria must utilize foreign engagements to attract foreign direct
investments.
If there is any
opportunity for driving FDI, America is one nation Nigeria must court for real
investments.
Strengthening
US-Nigeria Bi-Lateral Relations
This will cover
strengthening the US-Nigeria Bi-National Commission which will coordinated
diplomatic activities between both countries, covering trade and other areas.
Former Secretary
of States of the United States of America Mr Rex Tillerson in his visit to
Nigeria and some select African nations, echoed concerns of Africa's
relationship with an emerging superpower from Asia.
It is on this
basis that Nigeria must re-evaluate it's relations with the U.S going for what
brings value to the nation.
Technology
Collaboration
With the Fourth
Industrial revolution driven by digital technology taking shape, Nigeria stands
to gain a lot partnering with the United States, especially on the back of a strong youth population.
Through the
prowess of Silicon Valley, home to key tech firms like Microsoft, Apple,
Google, Amazon and Facebook, Nigeria can partner with the United States, to
boost areas like Fintech, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence amongst
others.
Key American Tech
Venture Capitalists and Private Equity Firms can invest more in budding Tech
hubs in Nigeria, from Yaba, Abuja to even Calabar.
Partnership
on Counter-Terrorism & Intelligence
If there is any
area Nigeria needs immediate assistance, it is in the area of military
intelligence and counter-terrorism.
America remains the global super-power in military
intelligence, and one expectation from President Buhari's visit is that beyond
the purchase of military hardware, there will be solid military partnership to
curb the spate of insurgency and spare of killings in the North-Central and
North-East regions of the nation.
This should also
cover more training and exposure for Nigerian military officers on tackling
guerilla warfare better off and
terrorism.
It should also
include intelligence sharing between United States of America and Nigeria.
Infrastructure
Both Presidents
Donald Trump and Muhammadu Buhari are giving priority to infrastructure.The
three Nigerian budgets 2016, 2017 and 2018 have 30% allocation to capital
expenditure.
For President Trump the
$1trn Infrastructure plan is key to repositioning America's economy.
With their
understanding of the value of infrastructure, President Buhari should use his
visit to White House to make a case for attracting more key
investments/partnerships with the U.S on infrastructure.
The recent Rail
concession agreement between the Ministry of Transportation of Nigeria and General Electric is a good
development.
We expect more to
cover areas like Power and this is key considering the opportunities Nigeria
has in accessing the "Power Africa" initiative set up by the Obama
Administration.
Moreover
driving infrastructure indirectly has a strong multiplier effect on creating
social opportunities, job creation and eventually reducing the spate of
terrorism.
Healthcare
and Education
In the area of
healthcare, President Buhari's visit to the U.S should open up a new chapter
for strategic parrnerships on improving healthcare in the country, especially “Primary
Healthcare”.
Areas of interests
should include investments in primary health care in Nigeria, collaborations
between the US and Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, Medical research and
improving Infrastructure with provision of up to date equipments for major
hospitals in Nigeria.
In the area of
education, there is an opportunity for increased collaborations
like exchange programmes between the IVY league Universities like Harvard,
Yale, Princeton, Columbia, MIT with Nigerian Universities in the areas of
research.
Partnership
on Tackling Piracy in Entertainment
The United States
and America and Nigeria boasts of the leading movie industries in the globe
namely Hollywood and Nollywood.
Both nations also
have remarkable and thriving music, comedy and creative art
industries.
Nigeria will need
technical assistance from the United States on how
best to tackle piracy and market Nigerian content on the global stage.
This is one area that President Buhari can discuss with President Trump.
America
has a robust infrastructure and system for tackling piracy that Nigeria can
learn from, at the same time providing content partnership to Nigeria.
Conclusion
In all we expect a
fruitful conversation between President Buhari and his American counterpart
President Trump.
This
is a great opportunity to take the US-Nigeria relations to the next level, which
should be based on more partnership.

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