The Netherlands have hosted a delegation of entrepreneurs and senior government officials from Nigeria, to discuss collaborations in areas including the circular economy and renewable energy.
A Nigerian delegation consisting of 34 entrepreneurs and senior government officials has secured understanding with Dutch businesses to deepen trade ties in the areas of horticulture, circular economy and renewable energy technologies.
The trade mission was facilitated by the Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC) on behalf of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and on the initiative of the Dutch Consulate General in Lagos State.
“This visit marks a restart of the economic relationship between Africa and the Netherlands,” said Rosmarijn Fens, NABC director.
Fens said doing business with Africa has continued as usual during the COVID-19 pandemic, but mainly through existing relationships.
“For new projects or expansion to other countries, these physical missions are still crucial, and we look forward to many more inbound and outbound trade missions later in the year,” she said.
The Nigerian delegation met and engaged with more than 50 Dutch companies over the course of four days in various seminar sessions at The Hague. The attendees were segmented into three tracks – renewable energy, circular economy and horticulture.
The energy transition track kicked off with a visit to Floating Solar BV, a floating solar pv plant installed on water.
The horticulture track visited the Westland, often called the ‘Glass City’ due to the large greenhouse farming that occurs there. Delegates also visited Priva, gaining insight into automation, climate control and water purification.
Delegates on the circular economy track visited the innovative Upcyclecentrum Almere, where the municipality of Almere works on concrete applications of circularity.
Olaitan Ajayi, Nigerian ambassador to the Netherlands, said both countries have to work together on a post-trade mission to transform the opportunities discovered into tangible resources of socio-economic development, especially in the areas of waste to wealth, power generation, food security and the revitalisation of the agricultural value chain for the best interest of Nigeria and its people.
Steven Collet, Ambassador for Business Development of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the visit follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2018 by the governments of the Netherlands and Nigeria.
