WTO chief urges Nigeria to purposefully court global investors

Rising geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and China, have accelerated global supply chain diversification, creating opportunities for countries like Nigeria, the economist and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria told a panel discussion on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

“Firms are increasingly adopting China+1 sourcing strategies to reduce single-country risk, although China remains deeply embedded in many global value chains,” she said.

“In addition, tariffs and trade restrictions have incentivised companies to reconsider reliance on dominant suppliers, prompting the relocation or diversification of production hubs,” she was quoted as saying by Nigerian media outlets.

If the country deliberately markets itself to prospective investors, these shifts offer scope to attract a share of global manufacturing and production networks, according to her.

“Let’s build solar panels in Nigeria. We are importing, but we can also manufacture. We have the renewable capacity. In fashion, let them come to invest. Every time I buy a piece of wax (textile), I check to see where it’s made. Let’s attract investment to make it at home rather than elsewhere. Many of the shiny new textiles we are wearing now are not made in Nigeria; a lot of them are imported,” she said.

Acknowledging reforms under way in Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala stressed the need to translate those into jobs.

While the process would not deliver instant results, the country is “moving in the right direction,” she added.

Fibre2Fashion (DS)