Nigeria. A West African country of 210 million with a growth rate of 9% per year, oilfields in the Port Harcourt area with mineral wealth, diamonds, marketable timber and a population that has ethical principles, faith in God and above all dignity.
The executives of our company made a business trip to Nigeria at the invitation of the Nigerian Government. The purpose of the trip was to discuss with government officials’, programs on the supply of seafood as well as issues related to the country’s internal food market. We visited the cities of Lagos and Abuja, where planned contacts were made with the relevant government and market actors.
In Abuja – the capital of the country – meetings were held with the Deputy Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Parliament, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Labor, the Minister of Petroleum and the Minister of Maritime. With all the above, we discussed issues related to creating the conditions for those that would enable the two sides to work together immediately. We also had dinner with the Minister of Maritime Affairs at her home, where we had the opportunity to discuss more in-depth issues related to Fisheries development and distribution of Greek Products.
On the internal provision market, we had meetings with wholesalers with whom we discussed collaborations on categories and types of foods in which we could develop forms of direct cooperation. We visited the Wholesalers and discussed with the owners, ways of cooperation and distribution of Greek Products.
Significant discussions and conclusions on how to move and sell products in Nigeria came from a visit to the Lagos Crazy Market. A city of about thirty million people, and a market that one could easily call “Chaos» yet possessed by an unprecedented Harmony.
In a Western-style foreign product marketing and in a way that leads to the first steps of buying and selling products. And yet this market, and the only way stakeholders behave, covers almost all the city’s population. With these product wholesalers, we are in talks aimed at working closely together.
The results were more positive than expected. Government projects are going according to our contacts and discussions. Trade is demarcated and lay the foundations for lasting and long-term cooperation. Further visits will of course be required to progress the work. But both sides want Greek products to be found immediately in most of the 36 counties of Nigeria.
And something, that might try to explain some questions that arise. It would be a big mistake to compare Nigerian lifestyles and culture with any “Western” way we have in mind. Because one can have a monthly salary of 100 euros, but he goes about his life so – in his own way, completely foreign to ours – he can live in his own culture. Difficult to understand if one does not see and live it close.
