MEDIA practitioners have been urged to strengthen trade ties between Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) by highlighting the untapped economic potential of the two countries.
At an interactive dinner with journalists yesterday in Abuja, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, said the country media's tendency to cover politics more than the economy should be reviewed.
The diplomat urged the operators to "right click and demystify" the esoteric issues, which have made opportunities available in the 10 year-old African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) elusive to Nigerians.
The session with the envoy, who was assisted by Mr. Perry Ball, Minister Counsellor for Economic Affairs; Mr. Peter Clausen, Counsellor for Public Affairs and Mr. Ajibola Andrew Akeju, an Economic Specialist in the American Embassy in Nigeria took place yesterday in Abuja.
The Embassy also announced June 8 to 10 for the 10th yearly AGOA Forum in Lusaka, Zambia. AGOA is the foremost trade and investment agreement between the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton; American Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk and other senior officials of the U.S. government are scheduled to attend.
The American Congress passed the AGOA Act in 2000 to strengthen trade with Africa. Thirty-seven countries are currently eligible to export nearly 6, 500 products to the U.S. duty-free. In 2010, U.S. imports from sub-Saharan Africa were over $65 billion while American exports to the region exceeded $17 billion.
McCulley urged the media to pay more attention to financial journalism by building capacity of those responsible for that genre of journalism.
He noted that politics dominates the media space in Nigeria where economic development, transparency and accountability and critical infrastructure have become one of the critical challenges to pursuit of AGOA issues.
"There is need to promote transparency, accountability, diversify the economy to deliver services to the people. Agriculture is one sure way to this where you need to do some packaging."
While Nigerian manufacturers are battling with how to benefit from AGOA, McCulley said "Ghana exports cassava products she takes from Nigeria to the United States..."
They noted that part of the challenges Nigeria faces, in this regard, included "high cost of production owing to poor infrastructure including power supply."
There have been dark hints that the Congress may extend the opportunity till 2025. But McCulley said yesterday, "It is not a done deal yet."
Source: How to boost Nigeria-U.S. trade ties, by envoy (http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49181:how-to-boost-nigeria-us-trade-ties-by-envoy&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)