DIPLOMACY

United States Is Enhancing Bilateral Trade And Investment Ties With Nigeria—David Greene, Chargé d’Affaires

<h4>United States Is Enhancing Bilateral Trade And Investment Ties With Nigeria<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reproduces an article by David Greene &comma;Chargé d&&num;8217&semi;affaires U&period;S Embassy&comma; on U&period;S Nigeria partnership<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Nigeria is on track to be the world’s fourth-most populous country by 2050&period; It already has the largest economy in Africa and&comma; with 60 percent of its population under the age of 25&comma; it stands on the threshold of a demographic dividend that can dramatically transform its economy for the better&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Nigeria’s strategic partnerships are essential in harnessing this potential&comma; and the United States is playing a leading role&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>As we near the six-month mark of President Tinubu’s administration&comma; our relationship has emerged as a key for success&period; One year ago&comma; at the U&period;S&period;-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington&comma; DC&comma; President Biden renewed our commitment to deepening engagement across the continent&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Here is how we are doing that in Nigeria – working in areas that matter most to everyday citizens&comma; such as growing the economy&comma; strengthening democracy&comma; improving health outcomes&comma; ensuring security&comma; and addressing the climate crisis&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Nigeria’s economic potential is vast&comma; and with the right macroeconomic framework&comma; a sound fiscal strategy&comma; and a strong commitment to rooting out corruption&comma; it can become a preferred destination for foreign direct investment&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>American investors and companies are eager to engage with Nigeria&comma; and the United States government is doing its utmost to build our bilateral trade and investment ties&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Consider these examples&colon; We have joined forces to accelerate Nigeria’s digital transformation&comma; with investments from U&period;S&period; tech giants such as Microsoft&comma; Cisco&comma; Meta&comma; Google&comma; and Starlink&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>This partnership has built a platform to train unemployed and underemployed women and youth&period; Moreover&comma; it has been a catalyst for quality investment&comma; accounting for more than a quarter of all venture capital flowing into Africa&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Collaborative efforts in agriculture further underscore our commitment&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>For example&comma; the U&period;S&period; Department of Agriculture recently dedicated &dollar;22 million to strengthen Nigeria’s cocoa value chain&comma; supporting more than 60&comma;000 cocoa farmers&comma; processors&comma; marketers&comma; and other agribusiness service providers in what is Nigeria’s &num;2 foreign exchange-earning export&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>From tech to agriculture&comma; these steps go beyond statistics&period; They translate into tangible outcomes&colon; good jobs&comma; seed money for new ventures&comma; and higher-value agricultural exports&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>The United States is also a steadfast partner in strengthening Nigeria’s health sector&period; With World AIDS Day – December 1 – approaching&comma; it is worth recalling that over the past two decades&comma; PEPFAR&comma; the leading U&period;S&period; initiative to address HIV&sol;AIDS&comma; has invested nearly &dollar;8 billion in Nigeria&comma; providing more than 1&period;6 million individuals with life-saving HIV treatment&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;"><strong><em>In response to COVID-19&comma; the United States donated more than 44 million vaccine doses&comma; helping the Nigerian government approach its target vaccination rate of 70 percent of the eligible population&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em> Partnerships like the U&period;S&period; President’s Malaria Initiative&comma; with an annual budget of more than &dollar;71 million&comma; have reduced child death rates and strengthened health systems&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Those investments are just part of our overall development assistance to Nigeria&period; In fiscal year 2022 alone&comma; the U&period;S&period; government allocated over &dollar;1&period;2 billion dollars in such support&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>These funds provide humanitarian assistance&comma; and improve health&comma; economic development&comma; education&comma; social services&comma; democracy&comma; human rights and governance&comma; and peace and security&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>In the latter two areas – democracy and security – we aim to support an inclusive future where Nigerian citizens’ votes count and translate into responsive governance&comma; and where they can live in peace&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>We are a steadfast partner in seeking to strengthen election processes that will enhance accountability to meet citizens’ expectations&comma; and pursuing innovative projects to help communities resolve differences without violence&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Through cooperation with and training of Nigeria’s military and police&comma; we are building more capable forces&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em> Collaborating with civil society&comma; law enforcement&comma; and the judiciary&comma; we are confronting the security challenges that stand in the way of economic growth while upholding a shared commitment to human rights&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em> Initiatives include building Nigeria’s counter-terrorism capacity&comma; bringing technology to courtrooms and case-management systems to help in the administration of justice and reduce pre-trial detention&comma; and supporting efforts to enhance accountability and transparency in police forces&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Our partnership to address the climate crisis reflects our mutual recognition of this challenge&comma; and our respect for Nigeria’s role as both an energy producer and a country profoundly impacted by the effects of climate change&period; In the leadup to COP28 – the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change&comma; which begins this week – the United States and Nigeria are aggressively seeking solutions&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em> For example&comma; U&period;S&period; support for Nigeria’s leadership as a Global Methane Pledge champion has led to action that is reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the benefit of all&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>These programs and cooperative efforts advance a joint agenda that is built and driven by the highest levels of our leadership&period; President Biden met with President Tinubu in September&comma; and numerous senior U&period;S&period; officials have come to Nigeria in recent months to confer on meeting Nigeria’s energy needs&comma; driving U&period;S&period; trade and investment in Nigeria&comma; and strengthening our law enforcement cooperation&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>These engagements strengthen our ties&comma; address Nigeria’s pressing needs&comma; and tackle shared challenges&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Ultimately&comma; realizing Nigeria’s potential hinges upon enhancing its fiscal and economic health – and capitalizing on its strategic partnerships to build on that foundation&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>The opportunity has never been greater&period; Nigeria&comma; with its youth&comma; energy&comma; and entrepreneurial spirit&comma; is poised to seize this moment&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>We commend the government for its bold actions thus far to try to move the economy to a more solid footing&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em> The United States is your partner in that effort – through investment&comma; better security&comma; a stronger workforce&comma; and resilient institutions – that benefits all Nigerians and expands prosperity for both our peoples&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Our journey ahead has its obstacles&comma; of course&period; But together we will find a path toward a shared prosperity&period; <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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