Brazilian president looks to introduce direct flights to Nigeria in a bid to boost trade

PRESIDENT Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has offered to strengthen his country's economic ties with Nigeria with plans that include introducing direct flights in a bid to bring the volume of trade between both nations back up to the $10bn figure at which it once stood.

Over the weekend, President Da Silva met with Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital on the sidelines of the Africa Union summit. During their bilateral talks, they discussed the comprehensive strengthening of ties in all fields between both countries. .

Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu's spokesman, said his boss emphasised the strength of Nigeria’s economic potential and influence, saying that the country is witnessing a leap forward, despite some short-term reform pains, as his administration is removing all encumbrances to business. He also informed the South American leader that his administration is investing in critical sectors of the economy like healthcare, education, and agriculture to ensure the welfare of all Nigerian citizens and to create sustainable economic prosperity for future generations.

President Tinubu stated: “We have a very vibrant population of young Nigerians who are trainable, dependable, and should be empowered. The economic potential of Nigeria is enormous, so we are ready to break all the walls standing in our way to progress.

“We are ready to fight corruption from top to bottom. We are ready to invest in critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, infrastructure, and others. I have one of the most dedicated teams on agriculture."

Assessing Nigeria’s natural and human resource wealth akin to Brazil’s, President da Silva said Africa’s largest economy and South America’s largest economy have a long and interesting history together. He pointed out that Nigeria and Brazil once had a trade volume of more than $10bn in the past, which has now plummeted to $1.6bn but emphasised that he is determined to strengthen bilateral relations.

President da Silva said: “I am back to try to restore and to reclaim our good relations with Nigeria. I cannot imagine that a country of 216m people and another of 213m people do not have strong relations.

“Mr. President, I am 78 years old, you are 71 but what keeps me energetic is that I fight for a cause, the cause of my nation and people. A great cause is the elixir of sustained vitality for experienced leaders.

“Nigeria and Brazil need stronger relations from the academic viewpoint, from the cultural viewpoint, from the commercial viewpoint, from the agricultural viewpoint, from the industrial relations viewpoint and from trade relations viewpoint. It is meaningless that there are no direct flights from Lagos to Sao Paulo and vice versa, I cannot understand that.

"We have to sit at a table and find a solution for that. In aviation, there are many areas of potential collaboration with our manufacturers who seek to have a greater presence in Africa."