…Nigeria among biggest beneficiaries of Brexit, says British envoy
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, says the trade value between Nigeria and Britain, which stands at £7.9 billion (about N16 trillion), has hit an unprecedented level.

Disclosing this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), yesterday, in Abuja, Montgomery also described Nigeria as one of the greatest beneficiaries of Brexit.

He lauded the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP), which he said boosts trade relations by removing non-tariff trade and investment barriers to foster cooperation in priority sectors.

According to him, the ETIP, which also promotes collaboration with the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, would scale the trade value by providing generous trading terms and tariff reductions on Nigerian products.

“So, I am delighted with our most recent trade figures. The £7.9 billion (or N16 trillion) trade is the highest ever between the UK and Nigeria. So, it is a very positive trajectory. The ETIP is exciting because it is a mutually agreed set of sectors and issues on which the UK and Nigerian governments are going to work.

“It is happening under the umbrella of the Minister of Industry, Investment and Trade, as well as the UK business and trade minister,” he said.

The UK, Montgomery noted, is not competitive in all sectors, but has major advantages in various sectors, including financial services, new technology, financial technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital platforms.

The British envoy said that in the creative economy, his country has some advanced manufacturing and advanced energy solutions, which are worth looking at, and credible in the Nigerian context.

He further said Nigeria is one of the countries that benefited the most from Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), better known as Brexit, adding that UK-Nigeria trade and investment relationships are being built on a post-Brexit set of rules that bolster trade ties with the potential for mutual economic benefits.

Montgomery said Brexit had allowed more Nigerians to come and live, work and study in the UK, culminating in the number of Diaspora Nigerians in the UK increasing from 300,000 in 2021 to 550,000 in 2025.