Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said international collaboration among countries across the world is crucial in addressing the challenges and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. Osinbajo made this known at the 8th German-Nigerian Business Forum which held virtually. The event featured presentations by representatives of the German and Nigerian business communities.
In a statement made available by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, the Vice President emphasized the importance of building stronger collaboration and cooperation post COVID-1.
Prof. Osinbajo said, “as it turned out, the pandemic is no respecter of borders, and has forced us to ponder on the importance of collaboration and international cooperation in solving some of our most pressing problems”.
According to him, “2020 will probably go down as perhaps the most challenging year in recent global history. No one can be blamed for the circumstances that led to it. However, history will hold us responsible as individual nations and collectively if we do not see and seize the immense opportunities that the moment presents.
“Bilateral cooperation is a major plank of that effort. We must use the German Nigeria forum to snatch growth and prosperity for our countries from the jaws of the pandemic.”
Speaking specifically about the German-Nigerian business cooperation, the Vice President said “there are several reasons why Nigeria and Germany’s economic relationship is an important and natural one.”
“With its population of nearly 200 million people and as the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria is a natural partner of Germany, which is also the largest economy in the European Union and also its most populous country. Both countries have a shared experience of paving the way in their respective continents and serve as strategic entry points for investors across industries,” he added.
Stating the focus of government’s interventions aimed at addressing the fallouts of the pandemic, Prof. Osinbajo said, “the priorities we, as a government, have set for ourselves are centered around nine inter-related and inter-connected areas, which are;
“Stabilizing the economy; Achieving agriculture and food security; Attaining energy sufficiency especially in power and petroleum products; Improving transportation and other infrastructure; Driving industrialization with a special focus on SMEs; Expanding access to quality education, affordable healthcare and productivity of Nigerians; Enhancing social inclusion by scaling up social investments; Building a system to fight corruption, improve governance and Strengthen national security,” he added.