By Prince Okafor

The Economic Counselor of France in Nigeria, Francis Widmer, has disclosed that the trade volume between France and Nigeria has hit 1.9 billion euros  (N668 .75 billion )in the first quarter of 2017.

Widmer made this known during a press conference organised by the consulate to mark the 2017 French Week in Lagos.

According to him, “The current relationship is better than what it was in 2016, when Nigeria was faced with strong economic recession and security challenges. The trade volume between Nigeria and France as at the first quarter of this year is between 1.3 to 1.9 billion euros.

“We now have a strong network of business investors in Nigeria, the French Development Agency, the French/Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), all in the efforts to promote trades and build mutual relationship especially in finding local business partners in Nigeria.”

On the investment side, he stated: “We have about 10 billion euro investment in Nigeria on the front side, the progression is still ongoing despite economic situation we had in 2016. Globally we have more than 100 French companies registered in Nigeria, as commercial partnership, direct, acquisition and affiliated.”

He lamented that one of the major challenges hindering prospective French investors from entering Nigerian market was their assessment of unfavourable business climate in the country.

He added that the economy in 2016 was not a good one, stressing that very soon a 40 man delegation of businessmen would be visiting Nigeria to further explore business opportunities in energy, economic, security, cultural, infrastructure, agriculture and oil and gas.