Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 September (BelTA) – Nigeria is one of the leading African economies and is a gateway to West Africa for Belarus, Belarus’ Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said at a press conference in Abuja on 9 September, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

“Belarus is proud of its close ties with Russia, rapidly developing China and India and other major economies, such as Venezuela, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. Now Belarus is set to expand economic cooperation with allies and partners in Africa. Nigeria is one of the leading African economies and is a window to the region of West Africa for us,” the Foreign Minister said.

According to Vladimir Makei, the priority should be given to agriculture, mechanical engineering, petrochemical industry, food and light industry, export of Belarusian quarry machines and road construction machinery; commissioning of assembly lines to produce industrial goods; export of farm machines using leasing; military cooperation; public transport; regional cooperation and contacts between chambers of commerce and industry.

“Investments are a promising area of cooperation with Nigeria. We are interested in science-intensive joint projects. Of special interest are practical scientific solutions in chemistry, information and laser technologies, genetic engineering, animal breeding, production of highly reliable equipment, powder metallurgy. Cooperation in these fields has made considerable progress,” the Belarusian Foreign Minister said.

Vladimir Makei believes that bilateral cooperation in education, science, technology, tourism and culture should also be seriously considered.

The diplomat admitted with regret that Nigeria is among the countries that face manifestations of terrorism every day. “We believe that terrorism as an instrument to trigger political transformations through fear is one of the biggest problems a country can face. We support Nigeria in its plans to restore peace and accord in the country,” Vladimir Makei said.

“We are quite optimistic about the future. We view Nigeria as a future springboard to expand Belarus’ presence in West Africa. We hope that Nigeria will, in turn, use geopolitical advantages of Belarus. Our economies complement each other. You have goods that Belarus needs. We have goods that Nigeria might be interested in and that might be supplied to Nigeria. We discussed these matters and agreed that we have many common mutually beneficial projects across multiple fields and we can implement them,” Vladimir Makei said.