Tinubu’s visit to UK

Yet, much as the moment qualifies as such, the outing certainly went beyond the pomp and ceremony. Nigeria under the Tinubu administration has undertaken major structural reforms which have not gone unnoticed by the global investment community.  The national currency, the Naira, has been stabilised, so has the investment climate been overhauled. The modernisation of the tax system has also gone apace, thus earning the country and the administration global acclaim. The underlying message is that Nigeria is now open for business.

To be sure, Britain is not just another country.  Both are linked by a shared history. It is one country that Nigeria has enjoyed longstanding relationship – both cultural and economic – that dates back to colonial days, with. It is a major trading partner with bilateral trade currently at an all-time high of £8.1 billion, an 11.4% increase from the previous year.

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Only recently, UK’s Twinings Ovaltine launched a £24 million manufacturing facility in Lagos, said to be first of its kind in Africa. The facility is expected to create over 100 direct jobs and boost the company’s exports across West Africa.

However, whereas Nigeria’s exports to the United Kingdom are dominated by crude oil, valued at £1.0 billion, UK’s exports to Nigeria are led by refined oil, worth £1.6 billion, with the UK maintaining a healthy trade surplus of £3.4 billion with Nigeria. Currently, two banks, Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank are known to have expanded their presence in the UK, with investments in Fintech, manufacturing, and education also on the rise.

This relationship was perhaps best captured by President Tinubu in his speech at the state banquet at Windsor Castle:  “Nigeria and the United Kingdom have shared more than just history; our two nations share a vision of progress and resilience. Today, we continue that journey, committed to building a future rooted in partnership, mutual respect, and common values”.

King Charles on his part spoke of the visit as providing “the opportunity to celebrate the fact that Nigeria is investing in Britain’s future as much as Britain is investing in Nigeria’s”.

He also spoke on the depth of the relationship and its mutuality when he noted that: “Leading Nigerian banks have chosen the City of London as a global base; examples of the best Nigerian companies are listed on London’s Stock Exchange, and U.K. Export Finance is supporting investment in Nigeria’s ports.

“In education, British schools and universities are opening their doors in Nigeria, and British and Nigerian technology companies are forming ever closer partnerships. I was pleased to see that visitors from Nigeria spent £178 million in Britain in 2024, and 251,000 people from Britain travelled to Nigeria and spent just as much, in return.”

Later at 10 Downing Street where the president met Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the latter also alluded to the “vibrant people-to-people connections that continue to strengthen both societies, noting that both countries already maintain strong collaboration in areas such as the economy, defence, and security”.

As for the outcomes, there was a plethora of agreements, top of which is the £746 million UK Export Finance package to refurbish the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, a $496 million integrated dairy platform to boost local food security, and a memorandum on immigration cooperation, which  ‘establishes a framework to facilitate a regulated and safe migration flow between the two countries and to encourage further bilateral cooperation in the fight against irregular migration and associated acts by citizens of each country, in accordance with their respective immigration and citizenship laws and extant international treaties, conventions, protocols, agreements, and charters’.

We do understand that opinions would be divided not only on the import of the agreements but also the terms. What is however not in doubt is how much the country is in dire need of such high level engagements to address concerns affecting both countries. Given that one such area which successive administrations have long expressed concern over is the yawning infrastructure gap, it certainly would be hard to fault the Tinubu administration for putting port refurbishment among its priorities, because of its immense capacity to unlock the trade system long hampered by inefficiency.

Of course, the severe disruptions occasioned by the tariff walls put in place by United States president, Donald Trump has remained a sore issue in global trade relations. In the circumstance, the least the country can do is explore such other global partnerships as to mitigate their potential impacts, which is exactly what the state visit has done.

Same with the agreement on immigration; the resurgence in anti-immigration sentiments across the West is such that the country can no longer feign indifference on the issue of how its citizens are treated outside of its shores, particularly when they run afoul of the law.

We congratulate the president on the successful visit, even as Nigerians look forward to more fruitful engagements aimed at re-calibrating trade relations with our partners globally. What Nigerians expect – more than anything – is the implementation of the agreements to their benefit.