Foreign trade: Nigeria, French trade drops to $2.3 billion in 2020

The French Government has disclosed that the volume of trade between France and Nigeria dropped to $2.3 billion in 2020 compared to $4.5 billion in 2019, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was disclosed by the French Minister in charge of Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Mr Frank Riester, at a meeting with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), in Abuja.

“We are optimistic of the future, when the crisis will be ending because we have many companies that have settled here. We want a win-win partnership between our two countries.

We have 100 companies that are settled in Nigeria, representing 10,000 people working in these companies and we want to increase our investments in Nigeria,” he said.

The Minister added that France wants to cushion processes that will enable more Nigerian companies do business in France.

“Tomorrow, I will meet some Nigerian companies that have already invested in France, as others are willing to invest in the country.

“These companies will be invited to a specific meeting in Paris in June, where President Emmanuel Macron will welcome many companies all over the world, and some of the companies will be from Nigeria because we want more Nigerian investments in France,” he added.

What you should know

Nigeria’s total foreign trade for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 rose to N9.12 trillion, representing an increase of 8.88% compared to N8.38 trillion recorded in the previous quarter. Total imports stood at N5.93 trillion, while total export rose by 6.72% from N2.99 trillion to N3.19 trillion.

Export to Europe was N1.07 trillion representing 33.5% of export volume, while import was N2.16 trillion valued at 36.5% of imports volume.