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UK International Development Secretary visits Nigeria ahead of Brexit

06 Aug 2019, 04:47 pm
Financial Nigeria
UK International Development Secretary visits Nigeria ahead of Brexit

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His two-day visit was to see how the UK aid is helping to generate trade and investment opportunities – for both African and British businesses – ahead of the UK-Africa Summit in 2020.
 

Alok Sharma, British Secretary of State for International Development

Alok Sharma, British Secretary of State for International Development, has visited Nigeria on his first overseas trip. His two-day visit was to see how the UK Aid is helping to generate trade and investment opportunities — for both African and British businesses — ahead of the UK-Africa Summit in 2020.
 
According to a statement released by the Department for International Development on Tuesday, Sharma met with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and the Governor of Kaduna, Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai; as well Nigerian business leaders in Abuja. The UK government official also visited Viathan Independent Power Plant in Lagos, which is supported by the UK Aid, and a primary school in Kaduna, where the UK Aid is helping children to receive at least 12 years of quality education.

Since 2015, the UK Aid has helped 3.5 million people in Nigeria to receive sustainable access to clean water and sanitation; 360,000 children to have access to education; 10.3 million children, adolescent girls and women to receive food and nutrition; and about 350,000 women and girls to have access to modern methods of family planning.

Speaking on August 2, the last day of his trip, Sharma said: “I saw first-hand Africa’s potential and I am excited at the prospect of helping to develop this further at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London next year. I saw how a power plant, partly-funded by the UK Aid, is lighting up schools and hospitals, creating jobs and supporting economic growth.”

He added that a prosperous, growing and trading Nigeria is in UK’s best interest. “Our relationship will continue to thrive as we leave the European Union,” Sharma said.

According to the statement, the upcoming UK-Africa Investment Summit will bring together businesses, governments and international organisations to strengthen the partnership between the UK and Africa. It will also help to generate opportunities worth billions of pounds for both British and African businesses.

Through a new £3.5 million Champions of Change initiative, the British government will be supporting Nigeria to introduce important economic policies. This will provide UK expertise to the Nigerian government to help Nigeria to deliver better public service, reduce poverty and ensure economic growth.

Similarly, the UK Aid is supporting the Nigeria Export Promotion Council to diversify Nigeria’s exports, help non-oil exporters comply with British standards and encourage British and Nigerian traders to work more closely together. By 2020, the UK aims to be the biggest investor in Africa among the G7 countries, which includes the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.


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