How New UK Trade Scheme Will Help Nigeria, Others

It has been shown how a new UK Trade scheme will help Nigeria, especially from the perspective of duty free trade.

It is coming off the Developing Countries Trading Scheme which the UK government launched in Lagos, which avails Nigeria and thirty seven other African countries, duty free exports to the UK.

Issuing a press statement on the matter, the UK Deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, Ben Llewellyn-Jones spoke about the UK’s commitment to work with Nigerian businesses.

“Nigeria is one of the UK’s most important partners in Africa and the UK Government is committed to working with Nigerian businesses and exporters to boost trade between our two great nations. The UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme harnesses the power of trade to help Nigeria and other emerging economies grow and prosper.

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“One major benefit of this new UK trading scheme is that it abolishes tariffs on over 3,000 everyday products that Nigeria currently exports including cocoa, cotton, plantain, flowers, fertilizers, tomatoes, frozen shrimps and sesame. The overarching aim of the new scheme is to grow free and fair trade with developing countries, boosting the economy and supporting jobs in those countries, as well as in ours”, the statement said.

The Eagle reports that before the latest New UK Trade Scheme, both countries, last November, agreed to deepen their trade and strengthen their economic partnerships.

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This would not only create jobs for women and youth, but also secure greater investments in both countries.

“The group agreed on a Terms of Reference and exchanged policy papers to outline their respective positions and areas of mutual interest”, a working document on the two countries trade agreement stated in part.

It added: “ As the EDF Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) comes to a close in 2023, the UK and Nigeria agreed to transition the EDF structure towards a potential Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership agreement, under which both sides will continue to work together to resolve market access issues and enhance economic cooperation.

“The UK launched its new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) in August, 2022. Nigeria noted that it will automatically benefit from enhanced preferences under the DCTS, given that 99% of current goods exports amounting to £1.6bn per year will be eligible for duty-free, quota-free access to the UK.

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“Nigeria also acknowledged that new tariff reductions introduced by the DCTS could save hundreds of thousands of British Pounds annually, and that this is expected to grow in products such as cocoa and fertilisers, where it is targeting global export volumes of US$1 billion and US$2 billion respectively.

“The UK will support specific business sectors in Nigeria that may benefit from the DCTS, through a series of technical workshops in Lagos before March 2023”, the paper said.