Finland cautions on Chinese market dominance in Nigeria

By Ameto Akpe, Abuja/Business Day

Mikko Kosonen, president, Finland Innovation Fund – SITRA, has cautioned Nigeria on the extensive presence and dominance of the Chinese in the country, saying “dominance of the Chinese needs to be dealt with in a smart way.”

Notably, the EU late last year warned Nigeria on China’s increasing interests in the country, when Belen Uyarra head, political and economic unit of the EU delegation in Nigeria at a media chat in Abuja, noted that the “Nigerian businesses should be the ones worried about the Chinese because they are both looking at the same niche.”

Speaking at the Nigeria-Finnish Business Forum in Abuja, Kosonen noted that it was important Nigerians learnt quickly from this foreign presence and acquire the skill to manage these projects and handle the technologies independently.

The Nigeria-Finnish Business Forum is designed to deepen awareness on the business and investment opportunities between both countries within the context of the existing comparative and competitive advantages, and the development histories of both nations.

Kosonen noted further that Nigeria needed to invest in research and education if it hoped to become competitive and attain its developmental aspirations, adding that “there is no short cut to success.”

Meanwhile, also speaking at the same forum, Arete-Zoe Amana, executive director of the Nigeria-Finnish Business Group, said in order to enhance the competitive index of the nation, Nigeria must leverage on its bilateral and multilateral relations through a more strategic approach to trade and investment promotion.

Amana stated that this was in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s inaugural speech where he emphasised the need for the formation of technical financial partnerships with global businesses and organisations.

She said: “Recognising the pivotal role in economic development, government needs to pay more than lip service to the objective of enhancing FDIs inflow by strengthening NIPC’s institutional capacity through adequate funding of it operations so that it can achieve its raison d’être and remain the regional beacon of excellence.

The Nigerian Finnish Business Group, which is the business networking platform of the Nigerian-Finnish Business Association, is poised to provide unparalleled membership services to enable members achieve their strategic objective in a professional and purposeful manner employing global best practices in its operations.

“We will continue to collaborate actively and then with the embassy of Finland and forge beneficial alliance with relevant local and international ministries, department and agencies to enable us serve our stakeholder public,” Amana said.