Nigeria, Mexico trade volume hits $600m

The volume of Nigeria-Mexico bilateral trade which currently stands at $600m is a huge transaction between both countries in the last 15 years, the country’s mission in Nigeria has said.

Fifteen years ago, the trade volume was $45 million but increased from $166.5 million in 2012 to $600 million in 2016, the Mexican embassy’s deputy Head of Mission, Rodrigo Tenorio, said.

Tenorio was speaking in Abuja on the side-line of a roundtable for working business discussion on trade mission to Mexico, organised by Nigerian-Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NMCCI), embassy.

“Though the figure may be small but in reality it is a huge transaction that we have in the last 15 years which was 45 million dollars.

“What that means is that it has grown more than 500 times and our goal is to have it grown more,” he said.

According to him, Mexico sees Nigeria as a natural spring board to stand for the entire Africa but the major challenge in their relationship was that they did not know each other well.

Once we know that Mexico is more than drug cartel and baron, and Nigeria is much more than a small group in the in collaboration with the northeast causing trouble, the business relationship would develop, he said.

The Vice President of NMCCI, Dr Chukwuemeka Elele, said that the Chamber was launched in December 2014 as part of efforts to further strengthen trade ties between the two countries.

He said the trade mission had given birth to a lot of successful firms in Nigeria in term of export to Mexico.

According to him, there were lot of benefits for Nigerian businessmen at the forthcoming Mexico Business Summit in October 2017, which he said was to deepen the mutually beneficial relations between both countries.