African Trade and Investment Ministers, others exchange ideas in Abuja

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Thursday said trade was the most effective tool to fight poverty.
Roberto Azevedo, the Director-General Azevedo of WTO said this at a two-day high level policy and private sector trade and investment facilitation partnership forum in Abuja.
According to him, this can be boosted with connectivity and good infrastructure.
“Trade is 24 percent of the GDP of African countries. Developing countries will need 2.5 trillion dollar investments annually if they are to meet certain goals.
“Steps to creating enabling environment include sharing ideas, exchanging insights, cooperation at the global level to facilitate investment flows.

Growing opportunities

Also speaking , the host and Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said although Nigeria had moved up to 145 from its previous position of 169 out of 190 economies collated by the World Bank, there was room for improvement.
“The World Bank also said Nigeria is one of the top 10 reformers. That is not where we want to be but it is better than where we were and we will move up,” he said.
Welcoming investors and his Trade and Investment counterparts across Africa, Enelamah said there was an abundance of opportunities which must be tapped with right policies and regional integration.
He said there was an urgent need to facilitate development financing and to encourage better collaboration that would lead to better results.