Chamber and association partnership with Nigeria

After a successful start at the planning workshop in April 2023, the Chamber and Association Partnership between the three Nigerian business organizations and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Gießen-Friedberg is continuously growing and taking actions. In June 2024, member companies of all four partners will meet at the international B2B conference "The World meets in Giessen".

With a population of more than 200 million, Nigeria is by far the most populated country on the African continent. Due to its massive size alone it is an appealing market – also for Germany, to which Nigeria is the second most important export partner in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa.

The new Chamber and Association Partnership (KVP) between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Gießen-Friedberg and three Nigerian partners - the umbrella association Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the selected member organizations Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Ogun State Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA) - marks a new milestone in the long-standing relationship between the Central Hessen region and Africa's largest economy. Most of the CCI’s partners are already well known to CCI, who has been consulting companies in Germany with a link to Nigeria since 2005, from the successful Vocational Education and Training Partnership (BBP) with Nigeria between 2012 and 2018. The new KVP project now builds on this trusting cooperation.

Together with the Nigerian partners, the CCI developed a plan for the three-year KVP project, including activities on organizational development of the partner institutions, the development of services for their member companies, national and international exchange and the strengthening of members’ interest representation. The activities involve exchanges and training on topics such as strategy and operational plans, member recruitment and management, external and internal communication, digitalization and impact monitoring. In addition, the idea is to introduce an income-generating and demand-oriented range of services for members, such as market studies, support in drafting business plans or other shared services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Among others, the KVP financed a "Basic Business Management" training seminar for selected employees and honorary members of the partner chambers. The participants were empowered as multipliers to conduct training courses themselves for member companies of their respective chambers in order to establish these trainings as a service in the future. Another focus lies on the support of companies in access to finance, which is a very challenging task in Nigeria, especially for female-led SMEs. The project also promotes Nigerian and German international cooperation and business ties as well as the exchange of experience in form of industry gatherings or networking events in selected focus sectors, such as renewable energies. Furthermore, the partner chambers are being supported in advocating the interests of the regional economy.

A highlight of the first project year was the trip of a high-profile CCI delegation to Lagos and Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, in December 2023. CCI CEO Dr. Matthias Leder and his team were accompanied by the Consul General of the Republic of Nigeria, Wahab Akande, who facilitated the contact with former Information Minister Lai Mohammed during the trip. The CCI delegation visited both German and Nigerian stakeholders. The list included the German Consul General in Lagos, representatives of the German Embassy in Abuja, colleagues from the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (DGIC) and the GIZ. CCI and its Nigerian partners presented the KVP project and further plans to strengthen the chamber and cooperative system in Nigeria as well as the legal migration of skilled workers to Germany to the Secretary to several Nigerian stakeholder: to the Secretary to the Governor of Ogun State, to the local Minister for Industry and Trade and the Minister for Community Development and Cooperatives in Ogun State as well as to the Nigerian Minister of Industry and Trade in Abuja.

After the first year of the project, the participants remain certain that the partnership will achieve positive economic and employment effects in Nigeria despite the very challenging political and economic environment. Particularly Nigerian SMEs will benefit from the support and will be in a better position to overcome the barriers to business development. Selected companies in the region will receive the opportunity to improve their business perspectives by entering into new partnerships with national and international stakeholders. In addition, the project can assist and support the up-coming economic region on its way to sustainable private sector development.

There are also potentials for the Hessen economy, as CCI can facilitate the establishment of new contacts with business partners throughout Africa. Through the BBP and KVP with Nigeria, CCI has built up connections with other partners in West Africa and during the implementation of a vocational training partnership (BBP) with Kenya from 2015 to 2021, CCI also has developed ties to East Africa.

Thus, when on June 13, 2024, CCI will be hosting the second edition of the international B2B conference "The World meets in Giessen", not only numerous Nigerian companies and institutions are expected to attend, but also representatives from other African countries such as Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Alongside the introduction "pitches", there will be opportunities for bilateral meetings with potential business and cooperation partners. In this way, domestic companies can obtain easy access to information about the African market, an important future market that should not be left to other countries. The COVID-19 crisis in particular has shown how important it is to remain innovative and enable a diversification of imports and exports in the future and prevent one-sided dependencies on other regions of the world, for instance in supply chains. Since 2019, CCI has been supporting its companies with respective advice, information and networking on the Africa Competence Centre platform.