Nigeria has strengthened diplomatic and economic relations with the Republic of Benin, one of her neighbours.
The relationship is hinged on Nigeria’s cultural, trade, and economic relations especially in customs border patrols, financial integration of payment systems and the harmonization of regulations along the borders.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar made the disclosure in a postmortem meeting after the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, returned from leading Nigeria’s delegation to the Benin Republic for a high-level meeting on boosting bilateral trade relations.
President Patrice Talon granted a brief audience to the Nigerian delegation during the visit where he urged the Ministers to give the bilateral meeting the desired impetus already established by himself and his Nigerian counterpart, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
A statement by the meeting added that the Beninise government made presentations on enhancing the bilateral trade between Nigeria and the Benin Republic and their position regarding implementing measures in other areas relating to trade harmonization.
Some of the key issues in the proposal were the strategies for strengthening the Customs Union between the two countries, establishing a relationship of trust through collaboration, joint training, and personnel exchanges between the respective Central Banks, and, most importantly, deepening the legal framework applicable to facilitate debt recovery. To achieve these frameworks, the Beninese Side proposed the creation of a permanent joint technical committee with extended powers that will seek the implementation of ministerial consultations on the enforcement of the bilateral agreement, political anchoring and establishment of a clear and transparent governance structure among other channels of implementation.
On his part, Mr. Romuald Wadagni, Benin’s Minister of Finance and the Economy, reiterated the significance of embodying the firm resolve of both countries’ Presidents in ensuring the strengthening of trade relations. He added that setting up a technical committee would serve as a one-stop shop for handling joint issues related to Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.
Mr. Edun underscored that the task at hand was to seek efficient means of implementing the ideas of the leaders of both countries and proposed that the two Finance Ministers head the proposed permanent committee.
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