I congratulated President-elect Bola Tinubu immediately after the election results were revealed.
The election results reflect that Nigerians trust his leadership and our democratic values. Taiwan believes his administration would boost Nigeria’s economy and society. Hence, Taiwan’s government believes that the rule of law and national sovereignty will lead Nigeria-Taiwan relations.
Taiwan and Nigeria conduct democratic elections because we value democracy and freedom. Despite the difficulties or hardship, we respect how Nigerians exercised their constitutional rights to vote, have it counted, and elect a new president-elect Tinubu. We applaud Nigeria’s democracy and new governors and National Assembly.
Taiwanese watched Nigeria intently this year since we are having our own democratic elections for a new president and parliament later this year and early next year. Taiwan and Nigeria share principles and democracy. Our next President will be inaugurated next May, whereas yours will be this May. Second, we anticipate the new government to do a few things to strengthen Taiwan-Nigeria relations.
Secondly, your Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment has revised the 1994 Taiwan-Nigeria mutual investment agreement. Nigeria and Taiwan negotiated the substance, and we anticipate its signing soon. Nigeria and Taiwan should iron out that news assignment when the new government takes office.
Nigeria-Taiwan economic relations?
Nigeria and Taiwan have various financial and banking activities and are eager to strengthen ties. We also collaborate with your Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria.
We will do more to provide a solid platform for sound investment and financial institution enhancement. We then address the new issue of training, which we might renew in numerous ways. In 2021, Taiwan-Nigeria training was worth over $ 1 billion.
Taiwan-Nigeria commerce rose 210 per cent in 2021. From 2020 to 2021, Taiwan-Nigeria trade increased, notwithstanding COVID-19. Our first time ever. Despite a small percentage decline in 2022, Taiwan importers have demonstrated a strong enthusiasm for importing additional high-quality Nigerian raw materials, particularly agricultural products.
What other opportunities do you see for Taiwan-incoming government collaboration?
From a long-term observation of Nigerian politics, economic, social, and all kinds of development, our office was happy to see and hear that during the presidential campaign, President-elect mentioned in the South-South and South-East that he would like to promote the South-East to become to Nigeria what Taiwan is to Asia. We are pleased to learn that Mr Tinubu intends to turn sections of Nigeria into a Taiwan-like economy. Taiwan isn’t Nigeria. Oil and most natural resources are yours.
Taiwan feels unlucky because we only have the technology. We envy Nigeria. Mr. Tinubu’s remark that he wants the South-South or South-East to become like Taiwan indicates he knows us as a technology reference module for Nigeria, and we are ready to help. We are ready and patiently waiting for the incoming government to discuss how to fulfil his statement of creating sections of Nigeria, the future environment of Taiwan as a nation, or in Africa.
One prerequisite is needed to attract investors to Nigeria for industrial financing or cooperation. We need good, well-educated labour that can be employed long-term or short-term. We inform investors that we have a well-educated populace they can hire locally and train properly. Our model is vocational training after Grade Nine or 15 before high school.
Students can choose vocational training or high school and college. We want to know if Nigeria will have a long-term plan to provide vocational training for a certain industry so our investors can engage Nigerian youth. Taiwan is almost transitioning from labour-intensive to capital- and technology-intensive. Despite our success, some businesses require a lot of labour.
Huge manufacturing assembly line workforce. Our industry left China for Malaysia and Indonesia. Because those corporations want quality but low labour costs, they relocated to India. Nigeria’s workforce might offer that. I’m not denying Nigeria’s manpower shortage.
Nigeria has a large workforce, but you must show you can teach and educate young people to attract investors. Suppose our investors want to explore or review. In that case, we may bring some of our vocational training facilities for capacity building in Nigeria so that three to four forces can move in the same direction.
How do we start?
First, signing a joint investment agreement shows our people that the Nigerian government is serious. Our investors should be invited to examine investments or investigate under your government’s goodwill. First, we need proof that the Nigerian government treated our office properly and respectfully. Our government, parliament, and businesspeople know Nigeria means business.
Tinubu has shown he means business by fulfilling his campaign pledges. If we ignore semiconductor and microchip technology, a few businesses will benefit any nation. According to your Ministry of Industry, Nigeria is developing electric vehicles like Elon Musk’s Tesla. Because of the computerised system for sensors, driving, and data organisation, many Tesla cars are run by Taiwanese companies.
Although we would like to compete with the Japanese battery, we nevertheless attempt to contribute a lot to Elon Musk Tesla. In recent months, Saudi Arabia has also wanted to partner with Fos-cum, a Taiwanese enterprise, to put up something similar in the Middle East for electric vehicles (EV). Nigeria’s EV development strategy is encouraging, and we could discuss that. Instead of discussing the latest chipset, electric vehicles use existing technology. Moving overseas is challenging.
But having cooperation or putting up specific industrial products to support your government’s future EV planning, since we no longer take that much into the traditional petrol engine. We’re EV-focused. Because EVs are a new car-making technique, Nigeria might lead West Africa or Africa in EVs, and Healthcare is another area.
Taiwan has a solid COVID prevention record, a good national health insurance system, and modern medical and health technology and industry. We can always teach others how to create drugs, and we can explore so many things, so we are waiting and seeing how the new administration will point out what Nigeria wants in one or two years, three to five years, so that Taiwan can adapt. Taiwan may support the initiative, not aid it.
It depends on how your new government under Tinubu will lead. Still, your Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment or Ministry of Health should send a high-ranking government delegation of permanent secretary level to Taiwan to resume what we stopped in 2014 or 2015. That’s where we excelled. Why did it stop? Restart now.
