As part of efforts to connect Russia with Nigeria and to lure potential Russian investors and business people to Nigeria and vice versa, a business lecture platform “Doing Business with Nigeria” was created in November. Its primary aim is to get the Russian business community to understand the economic and investment potentials as well as the current market conditions in Nigeria. In a brief interview, Rex Essenowo, a business economist and a member of Board of Directors & CEC of the Nigerian Diaspora Organisation, Europe, talks about the first business lecture held late November and the future perspectives of overall Nigeria-Russian economic cooperation. Here are the interview excerpts:

As an insider, do you consider the business lecture on Russia and Nigeria important?

Rex Essenowo (RE): First and foremost, the lecture was a critical action and a call to active duty for Russian companies that participated in the event, as it gave the inside-out of both the political economy of the Nigerian state, as well as presentation of complex market research that is very strategic for potential investors and business people from Russia.

On the other hand, we plan to systematize as an online auditorium based in furtherance of developing bilateral economic relationship between the two countries. We strongly believe that our economic diplomacy and partnerships could be raised to appreciably new levels and it is cost-effective for us. Obviously, there has been poor or inadequate information on the vast investment opportunities in both great countries and it is something we have to correct now using new forms of technology. The first lecture vividly showed evidence that this is really one instrument to promote ties and to strengthen the........

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