A few days ago I was a keynote speaker at the 3in one fair: China Brand show/Made In Nigeria Brands and Retail Sourcing Fair. I spoke on International Sourcing: The Opportunities And Challenges. One of the advantages of globalization is sourcing products and services across geopolitical boundaries with the aim to exploit global efficiencies in product and service delivery. Cost-saving as a result of skilled but cheap labor, many tax incentives, lending rate which is below 5%, infrastructural facilities all pushdown price.

These are the reasons why China is the manufacturing headquarters of the world. When businesses in different developed countries talk about their factories they are likely located in China. The only things not made in China are human beings. What worries me as a patriotic entrepreneur is the huge balance on trade deficit between Nigeria and China.

In 2018 China export to Nigeria was $2.3b while Nigeria export to China was paltry $527m!!!.I hope the policymakers will put in place a strategy that will promote collaboration via setting up some of these factories in Nigeria, joint venture partnership, technical skills transfer to grow the real sector in Nigeria. Nigeria is the biggest market in Africa and with the signing of ACFTA with the right policy on industrialization Nigeria will become the hub for African countries.

To Think that the projection is that our population of 200m mostly young people will double by 2050.It is an emergency to get Nigerian young people gainfully employed. The relationship between Nigeria and China should be mutually beneficial , deliberately and intentional. Recently while it is increasingly so easy for the Chinese to come to Nigeria in droves it is becoming extremely so difficult for Nigerians to get travel documents to China

– MRS NGOZI NZWGWU

Mrs Ngozi is a Promotional Solution Specialist, founder and CEO Dugo Ltd. She is the Founding President of Association Of Promotional Products Specialists Of Nigeria (APPSON)