Nigeria, UAE to strengthen bilateral ties

The United Arab Emirate (UAE) Minister of Power, Sulail Mazdouei, has expressed  discontent over the level of bilateral trade between Nigeria and UAE.

Mazdouei said that in as much as Nigeria and UAE have come a long way in their bilateral relations, they ought to have exceeded the level at which their relationship is now.

He expressed the dissatisfaction on Friday, when he paid a courtesy visit to the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, in Abuja.

The UAE minister, who stressed that Nigeria is a strategic partner of his country, said there is the need for both countries to strengthen their existing bilateral ties.

He noted that there are a lot of outstanding Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) that Nigeria and UAE need to sign, calling for a speedy signing of these documents with a view to consolidating the bilateral cooperation of the countries.

Mazdouei stated that since Nigeria’s power sector is undergoing privatisation, UAE investors will be interested in ploughing into the sector, which is why the bilateral agreements need to be signed quickly.

“In the generation of electricity and power sector, one of our companies is considered the sixth largest power provider in the world and they have key projects in different countries in Africa. So, I think what we need to do as governments is to sign some of the bilateral agreements,” he said.

“I know the Ministries of Foreign Affairs from both sides are focused on doing this. Some of those treaties are crucial for our companies to do projects here. I’ll encourage both sides to finalise these agreements so that we can encourage the private sectors to come and evaluate projects and do something on the ground.

“My visit to Nigeria is to reassure Nigeria of its importance to us. We are not happy with the level of our bilateral trade so far. There is a potential that can be harnessed. We hope that if these agreements are signed, we’ll bring in these companies and facilitate other process.”

In her response, Onwuliri, who conceded that there were some outstanding MoUs which might have culminated in the low bilateral trade between the two countries, assured that efforts would be redoubled to ensure that all the outstanding bilateral agreements are signed.

She, therefore, urged UAE to support Nigeria in its quest for a seat at the United Nations General Assembly billed to take place by next month.