Part of the move was the just concluded three-day China Homelife Exhibition with over 200 manufacturers exhibiting over 200,000 products and geared towards supporting e-commerce and promoting Nigeria’s production capacity through technical partnerships to reduce reliance on importation while creating jobs in Nigeria.Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event in Lagos last week, project coordinator, China Homelife Nigeria / CEO Elan Expo, Jude Chime, said that the purpose of the exhibition was for Chinese manufacturers to meet investors in the Nigerian real sector and see how they can partner and create an investment hub where they can start a manufacturing hub.
Chime stated: “For the Nigeria-China trade event, we have over 200 Chinese manufacturers representing China here in Nigeria. The purpose is to meet the stakeholders in the investment sector, not basically to make sales but to see how they can partner and create an investment hub where they can start manufacturing hub. The point is to promote investment not sales, that is the essence of the exhibition.
“China and Nigeria have had a great level of relationship in terms of trade. As of 2018 they had over $70 billion in terms of the trade agreement and trade relationship and this would triple in terms of Chinese product,” he said.
Also, special adviser to Enugu State Governor on Small and Medium Enterprises and Investment Promotion, Anayo Agu, said the days of massive importation is over because it is not sustainable.
On his part, Chief Operating Officer, Meorient Foreign Trade, Binu Pillai, stated: “Nigeria is a gateway to West Africa. One of the things that attract people to Nigeria market is the population and it is also one of the largest markets in Africa. In terms of opportunities, Chinese companies do not have a lot of opportunities to come here so they are looking for a secure environment to do business.”
