By Victoria Ojeme

Since the advent of globalisation, a significant increasing link now exists between economies around the world. As a result of this, nations are now open to international trade, financial flow and foreign direct investment.

The foundation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 to encourage trade openness between member states by reducing tariffs was motivated by bilateral trade flows and gains from trade. Interestingly, the new wave of global economic integration has increasingly made bilateral trade flows of enormous importance, especially, its contribution to globalisation, the volume of trade flows and direction of capital movements between nations.

As Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria has consistently maintained its leadership position as an oil exporting nation. Furthermore, a report by the WTO revealed that Nigeria had signed 16 bilateral trade agreements (BTAs), nine memoranda of understanding (MoU) agreements and a trade and investment framework (TIFA) with the United States. Despite these efforts through different trade agreements and arrangements, trade, especially in non-oil goods, remains low. In Particular, intra-Africa trade is low despite efforts to increase trade in the ECOWAS sub-region.

Flowing from these, some economic experts have repeatedly faulted international trade deals Nigeria entered into with other countries for many decades, saying it has not really yielded any gain for the country. This consequently heightened calls for a review of the trade agreements and policies.

Nigeria is said to have entered into more than 500 trade agreements with several countries over the years after several rounds of trade negotiations, but Dickson Yeboah, former head, Course on Intensive Trade Negotiations Skills, World Trade Organisation (WTO), recently noted that these agreements did not project the interest of the country as it should.

Yeboah said in an interview that Nigeria needs skilled trade negotiators who can seal better deals for the country at bilateral and multilateral levels. He stressed that skilled negotiations are a way out of poverty, recession, and economic hardship.

Speaking further on how Nigeria can negotiate better, he advised the Nigerian government to empower the business community with trade negotiation skills to ensure inclusiveness. According to him, “Thailand organised a negotiation skills course for the business community and therefore all spheres of the business in Thailand were represented at the top level. We can organise this course for our business community for them to appreciate the challenges facing Nigerian negotiators, and add the contribution they can make to influence certain internationally.”

Yeboah also urged negotiators in the country to consult with the business community such as the manufacturers association, the academia and all interested stakeholders to harmonise the interest of Nigeria. This, according to him, can guarantee a better trade deal for Nigeria.

He commended the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) for organising a trade negotiation skills simulation course which was held from 30th May to 3rd June in collaboration with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) with support from the United Kingdom Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The training drew participants from relevant ministries and agencies, civil society organisations, the media, as well as lawyers.

Yeboah said the course exposed participants to techniques of negotiations and gave them a better understanding, to enable them to negotiate for the government of Nigeria in sub regional, regional, bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations,” he added.

“I want those trained to be used by the government to negotiate trade concessions for Nigeria because negotiating skills are a way out of an economic recession. If we have a bunch of people who can negotiate better deals for Nigeria, Nigeria immediately emerges from any economic hardship,” he further said.

Yonov Agah, Director General, NOTN, and Chief Trade Negotiator (CTN) while noting that this is the second intensive skills course said the agency targets to train 300 government, private sector officials in the art, skill and process to become skilful negotiators.

The chief trade negotiator, also observed that Nigeria did not effectively advance her interest during international trade negotiations in the past and expressed optimism that the course will help negotiators understand and appreciate the qualities of a good negotiator; which according to him is one with ability to turn even a bad situation into a win-win situation by either preserving certain concerns that of country’s stakeholders or advancing any aggressive ,while at the same time giving something in return.

“We made our mistakes, those of us old enough to know about the second National Development Plan whose objectives were a country that was self-reliant and independent, today, can anybody tell me that there is an independent and self-reliant country? Even as individuals, we are no longer independent and self-reliant. So, we need to begin to develop the skills that will help us position Nigeria as a member of the international community that can fight for its interest that can derive maximum benefits from participating in various trade amendments and configurations.

He further said the timing of the training is apt because Nigeria is currently undergoing various types of negotiations. “We need inputs from you (participants)and you need to understand what the inputs should look like, you need to understand the issues.

“This training is to help you appreciate what is going on, appreciate the kind of information that you can pull out from your policies, regulatory frameworks and feed into the negotiations. I am hoping that by the end of this programme and working together as a team will be able to fight for Nigeria’s interest, get the best for the country in any negotiation we are participating in and that will advance the overall objectives of the country using trade as an instrument.”

Agah, also stated that the training is critical as the AfCFTA is preparing to enter the second phase of negotiations which includes intellectual property rights, competition policy, women and youth in trade and e-commerce.

“I have no doubt that the skills you have acquired through this training session will facilitate your participation in negotiations either directly or indirectly through appropriate policies. You will be better placed to advise other heads of your respective MDAs as it concerns negotiations for policies in holding effective stakeholders for advancement of Nigeria’s interest in trade.

While delivering his closing remarks at the end for the course in Abuja, Agah, who was represented by Paul Ogbu, a legal advisor at NOTN, charged the participants to be thorough in negotiations, having a good knowledge of the interest of Nigeria and other countries.

Speaking further on how Nigeria can get better deals from trade negotiations, the Ambassador said there must be a harmonised interest across ministries and agencies and negotiators must not see themselves as just representing the interest of their organisation, but Nigeria’s.

“We need to have that concerted, togetherness, if we harness the interest from various MDAs we will be able to put together Nigerian interest, it’s not an internal interest. We work together as one, and negotiate on behalf of Nigeria.”

Participants at the training said they are better positioned to negotiate better trade deals for Nigeria in a bid to drive economic growth.

Chris Bassey, a negotiator under services at NOTN said, “It’s been very educating. I have learnt the art of negotiating at multilateral, bilateral levels negotiate under services, agriculture and under the new sector fisheries which will be negotiated at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva.

Also, Usman Isah, a junior trade negotiator at NOTN described the training as an eye-opener. “It was a wonderful experience because I’m new to NOTN and I’m really excited about this training that has improved my negotiation skills,” he added.

Abiola Adewala, senior planning officer at the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) said the programme has been very insightful, saying she learnt the importance of preparation in the negotiation process and every other relevant skill. Also, Deborah Israel, a lawyer who also works at the NOTN said she has learnt the art of giving and taking and expressed confidence that she can deliver when called upon to protect the interest of Nigeria.

In the same vein, Emmanuel Nnadozie, a senior trade negotiator public policy, NOTN. The training should be held regularly and expanded to accommodate more public and private officials so that the country could have a rich pool of skilful negotiators.