JUST IN: US, Africa relationship mitigates barriers to trade, investment — Marisa Lago

The United States of America, USA, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Marisa Lago, has expressed optimism about the relationship her country was fostering with African countries.

She noted that the move would remove potential barriers that can hamper trade and investment. Lago disclosed this at a recent media briefing.

Also at the briefing were the chargé d’affaires in charge of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, David Greene. Both discussed the U.S. Department of Commerce-led Global Diversity Export Initiative Trade Mission, GDEI trade mission to South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria.

According to Lago, “Our engagement or vision for deepened engagement with Africa entails a lot more than just high-level visits. We are laser-focused on delivering tangible results across all dimensions of our bilateral relationship, as well as our partnerships with sub-national and pan-African institutions.

“And I am pleased to report that if we look just in terms of trade and investment, since December’s leaders’ summit and the U.S.-Africa Business Forum that the Commerce Department organised, the Biden-Harris administration has helped closed 75 new deals between the United States and African countries.

“We estimate that the total values of these deals result in $5.7 billion in two-way trade and investment.

“At the U.S. Department of Commerce, we view these engagements and this specific GDEI Trade Mission as important steps in continuing to deliver on the commitments that we made at last December’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and Business Forum.

“In particular, this trade mission has brought over 20 U.S. companies and organisations, mostly owned by members of the African diaspora in the United States. These companies are active in a wide range of sectors, starting with the information and communications technology sector, cybersecurity, electric vehicles, energy, trade facilitation, and consumer goods.

“Again, this trade mission serves as an example of how intentionally we’re working to deepen and sustain connections between U.S. and African companies.

“We see trade missions like these as a foundational means of business-to-business relationship building as well as an important mechanism to foster ties that lead to concrete trade and investment deals,” the US Under-Secretary explained.

Speaking on reasons for selecting South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, Lago noted: “We wanted to make sure that we selected countries whose economies had a strong presence in sectors that had strong prospects for U.S. companies, where there was the ability to match up the U.S. companies on this trade mission with companies in those countries,” she said.

On his part, the chargé d’affaires in charge of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, David Greene, reaffirmed US commitment to Africa, and indeed Nigeria.

He said: “This is a very exciting time in the U.S.-Nigeria bilateral relationship, especially on the economic front.

“With the Tinubu administration taking and undertaking some of the structural changes that we think will create the foundation for new influxes of U.S. capital investment and increase two-way trade with Nigeria, we’re already seeing a renewed interest by U.S. businesses and investors as well as other international investors.

“We really believe that Nigeria’s economic growth will bring stability and prosperity not only for the Nigerian people but also across West Africa, where Nigeria is such an economic heavyweight, through cross-border expansion and economic integration, including under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“So the United States remains committed to an enduring partnership with Nigeria, one centered on our aspirations for shared prosperity and mutual economic growth,” said Greene.