NBCC seeks improved business relations between Nigeria, British companies

The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) has taken steps to strengthen its partnership and mutual collaboration with British American Tobacco (BAT) Nigeria.

The NBCC delegation made the move during a courtesy visit to the BAT Regional Head Office for West and Central Africa in Lagos.

The Deputy President, NBCC, Ray Atelly, said the NBCC’s objective is to promote the interests of Nigerian and British companies as well as seek collaborative ways to improve trade relations and promote the mutual interests of both countries through its various activities.

The Director of External Affairs, BAT West and Central Africa, Odiri Erewa-Meggison, expressed the desire of the company to collaborate with key stakeholders like the NBCC.

“As the market leader covering 25 markets across West and Central Africa, we appreciate the need to stay close to key stakeholders in the industry. We have consistently been among the top five exporters in Nigeria and are self-sufficient in terms of forex as we look inward to fund our export.

“We operate a model that can be replicated by other exporters and are willing to share insights with other companies so that they can achieve the same feat, considering the recent forex crisis affecting the real sector in the country,” she said.

She noted that BAT seeks to be the catalyst that drives investment in the country, while priding itself as a trail-blazing multinational.

Erewa-Meggison highlighted BAT’s new corporate agenda to ‘Build a Better Tomorrow’, aimed at reducing the health impact of its business, noting that the transformation of BAT is also closely linked to its corporate social investment and environmental, social and governance objectives.

She stated that BAT Nigeria funds the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) with one per cent of its revenue and is considering increasing the percentage of the funding as it looks forward to executing more agro-projects that impact the lives of Nigerians.