AFRICANGLOBE – A delegation of Polish business people arrived in Abuja, Nigeria to push for more opportunities with their counterparts in the country. They arrived in Nigeria via Lagos on Sunday and have been exploring opportunities in the country’s commercial capital.
A meeting with members of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for this morning before they depart for Abuja.
A statement by the Polish embassy in Nigeria indicates that the 11 man delegation led by the President of the Central Poland Chamber of Commerce-Lodz, Witold Gerlicz includes top representatives of the biggest PVC window sills producers in Europe, the largest IT company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, a pharmaceutical company and the Polish Bank of Entrepreneurship.
The team also includes Honorable John Godson, the first member of the Polish Parliament of Nigerian origin.
In Abuja, the Polish delegation will hold a business to business forum at the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture tomorrow. There will also be a briefing session for the delegation by different Nigerian ministries and agencies on Friday.
This is the second visit by a Polish delegation of business people within this year and signifies a determined push on the Polish side to improve the current trade relation between Nigeria and Poland.
Annual Polish exports to Nigeria stand at about 100 million US dollars and Nigerian export to Poland for the same period is in the form of coal cocoa and palm kernel totalling a mere $5 million.
The flurry of activity on the Polish side is expected to peak with a visit by the Polish Prime Minister in April. Just before then, the Polish embassy in Nigeria will organize a trip for some Nigerian business people later this month.
The Polish Ambassador in Nigeria Mr Przemyslaw Niesiolowski told reporters that Poland is currently in the position of being the 20th biggest economy in the word, a position that Nigeria aspires to by the year 2020.
Mr Niesiolowski went on to say that by virtue of being the 6th largest economy in Europe, his country can contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth. Poland derives its energy largely from coal as 95% of its power stations are coal powered.
The central European country has a well developed maritime sector in addition to a strong processed food sector. Already there are plans to establish a Polish inspired maritime institute in Bayelsa state.
Similarly one of the companies that is currently on the delegation to Nigeria, Bakoma, is a major producer of dairy products. It is not only Nigeria that Poland is setting in its sight as there is also a continent wide push called Go Africa that is to be launched in a bid to increase competitiveness of their goods and services all across the African continent.