France’s President Emmanuel Macron visited Nigeria this month with a major goal of improving ties and trade relations between the two countries. Macron met with Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and vowed to increase cooperation between Nigeria and France on security challenges posed by Boko Haram and ISIS jihadists in Nigeria and the Sahel region of Africa. Nigeria and France on Tuesday in Abuja signed three agreements worth US$475 million on social amenities and reforestation. At a press conference, Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his gratitude for France’s support.
“I thank President Macron for his understanding and his commitment towards Nigeria and West Africa,” Nigeria President Buhari. ” We will continue to work with France for the benefit of both countries, in security, the fight against corruption, the economy, and in tackling the effects of climate change.”
French company Total SA is one of the major international producers of crude in Nigeria
With €3.6 billion in bilateral trade in 2017, Nigeria remains France’s leading trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa (i.e., 20% of France’s market share in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017), according to French government data. France’s Exports (€1.07 billion in 2017) to Nigeria are diversified: refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, mechanical, electric, electronic and computer equipment, and agrifood products. France’s Imports (€2.48 billion in 2017) are mainly made up of petroleum products. French company Total SA is one of the major international producers of crude in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil exporter. Nigeria remains France’s fifth-largest supplier of natural hydrocarbons and the leading supplier in sub-Saharan Africa.).
Macron visits Lagos nightclub founded by Nigerian music legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti
120 French Businesses Exist in Nigeria-Ambassador
The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to France, Modupe Irele, disclosed earlier this year that there were about 120 French businesses located in different parts of Nigeria.
“The French, like many other business people, are showing interest in Nigeria’s drive to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria,” she said.
Nigeria Republic is surrounded by multiple former French colonial countries
Nigeria borders several Francophone countries such as Chad, Niger, Mali, Togo, Benin.
In recent years, France has deepened its military presence in West Africa under the pretext of battling Islamic terrorism. It is no secret that France has maintained “vested interests” in its former colonies in West Africa. With deeper economic and military ties with oil behemoth Nigeria, France would easily dominate West Africa. However, France will face competition with the United Kingdom for stronger engagement in Nigeria. Nigeria had been a British protectorate since the 1st of January 1901 until its independence from the United Kingdom on the 1st of October 1960.
“Ties that bind the UK and Nigeria will grow stronger and not weaker in the next century”-British High Commissioner to Nigeria Paul Thomas Arkwright, stated in 2017.
“Some people make comparisons between the relationship the UK has with its former colonies and the relationship other countries – like France – have with their former colonies. Others point to new partners in Africa like China and say the UK should do what they do and act as they do. But the UK has its own relationship with Nigeria and I prefer it. I have heard people call the UK Nigeria’s parent. I’d like to challenge that description. The UK today, and in the future, is Nigeria’s partner, not its father or mother. That’s something tangible and real. As a development partner in Nigeria, the UK remains steadfast in our support for the people of Nigeria,” British High Commissioner to Nigeria Arkwright.
Nigeria is the largest oil producer on the African Continent
“The UK’s bilateral trade relationship with Nigeria is still worth £3.8bn per annum,”Arkwright stated. “Shell, a British-Dutch company, has invested billions of pounds into Nigeria and has around sixty onshore or shallow water oilfields and seven hundred wells. The UK could regain its position as the top non-oil trading partner with Nigeria. That’s my personal ambition for the coming years, and one I think is realistic. I meet British companies all the time who are interested in the other sectors Nigeria has to offer: power (including solar), infrastructure, agriculture, education, the digital economy, fintech.” So, in essence, what the British High Commissioner is trying to say, is the UK is there to stay in Nigeria and expand its presence. France is going to run up against a brick wall if it tries to encroach on England’s political and economic turf in Nigeria. Great Britain and Nigeria share a common language (English) and similar culture. To get a sense of how France has operated in Africa in the past, one can review France’s mammoth Elf Oil corruption case. Former French-state operated Elf is now privatized and part of the Total Oil group.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, biggest oil producer with the largest population, projected to be the worlds 3rd largest by 2050. Much is at stake with Nigeria, and whichever western nation exerts the most political and economic influence over the African country will reap big profits. Lagos state is the 5th largest economy in Africa. Nigeria has large deposits of natural resources such as; iron ore, tin, columbite, coal, niobium, lead, zinc, bauxite and oil and gas.
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