Whither Nigeria’s economic diplomacy? II

Last week we explored the nature and elements of economic diplomacy in general and its role in the pursuit of national wealth and power. Today we conclude by looking at how Nigeria has fared in that domain and the way forward.
Economic diplomacy in Nigeria, as elsewhere, must be rooted in the principles and foundations of its foreign policy. In the early 1960s Nigerian foreign policy under the administration of the gentle and compassionate Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was anchored on the conservative framework of non-alignment, multilateralism, respect for the territorial integrity of our neighbours and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations. We were also expressly committed to the notion of Africa as “the centrepiece” of our external relations.
The tragic civil war experience during 1967-70 was a turning point. The defunct Soviet Union, Britain and other Western countries gave their support to the federal government while France and others were on the side of the secessionist Biafra. The federal government won the war largely on the basis of the use of the instruments of economic warfare. The blockade imposed by the federal government led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Igbo people, especially women and children. The debate on the morality of that action is unlikely to disappear soon. The baptism of fire in terms of the war experience nonetheless had a temporising experience for our post-war diplomacy.
Nigeria emerged as a stronger and more united country, thanks to Gowon’s policy of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, with its maxim of “No victors, no vanquished”. It was to be the most successful post-bellum settlement in modern international politics. At the same time, the emergence of OPEC and the quintupling of global oil prices brought untold windfalls into our national treasury. We become one of the leading oil-exporting nations, with a new-found confidence in our ability to pursue a more independent external policy. We joined OPEC while embarking on ambitious programmes for economic development. In 1975, under the short military reign of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, Nigeria came to its own as Africa’s leading power. Nigeria’s pursued a more vigorous policy of support for liberation movements in Southern Africa as leader of the Frontline Nations in the United Nations General Assembly.
During the seventies, Nigeria was also a strong actor in international economic diplomacy. We had trade missions in different parts of the world. The Ministry of Trade was responsible for sending Trade Attachés who served in our trade missions with responsibility for promoting our trade and international economic relations. Then as now, we also had several bilateral agreements on trade and investments. A retired veteran diplomat who also happens to be a highly qualified economist revealed to me that the trade missions were a complete failure due to bureaucracy, nepotism and absence of professionalism.
In the area of North-South cooperation and multilateral trade negotiations in such forums as the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Lomé Conventions between Europe and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Nigeria was a strong and well-respected actor. Distinguished diplomats such as Gabriel Ijewere, Olu Sanu and eminent economists such as Pius Okigbo, Adebayo Adedeji and Phillip Asiodu played influential roles in our international economic diplomacy and regional institution building. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s role in the multilateral trade negotiations relating to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor the WTO was much less impressive. Within the continent, we played invaluable roles in creation of regional bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in the design of key continental initiatives such as the creation of the African Development Bank Group and the Lagos Plan of Action.
During the long military interregnum 1983-1999, Nigeria took a more active role in peacekeeping efforts within and outside the continent. In West Africa, our role was decisive in restoring peace to war-torn Sierra Leone and Liberia. As part of our economic diplomacy we also provided petroleum at subsidised prices to several West African countries ranging from Benin to Ghana and Senegal. We also built roads and other infrastructural facilities in several of our neighbouring countries. Although these were never publicised, some of our military rulers were also in the business of giving official as well as private “loans” to some of our neighbouring countries. Altogether, according to some estimates, Nigeria has expended more than US$50 billion by way of assistance to other countries. To drive the picture home, this amount is more than our total external reserves of US$48 billion today.
We also created the Technical Aid Corps to provide assistance to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific islands. It must be placed on record that Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, in his capacity as foreign minister during the years 1985-87, holds the singular credit for initiating the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) as a vehicle for assisting friendly countries in Africa and beyond.
However, the idea of pursuing economic diplomacy as a central pillar of foreign policy came with the appointment of his successor Major General Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu during the years 1988-1992. Those were the years when the country experimented with the IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) under the military presidency of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. That policy was anchored on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy and repositioning the private sector as driver and locomotive of economic growth and social transformation. Efforts were made to integrate the business sector more closely into the country’s external relations as a means of boosting trade while catalysing inward investments.
Some of my gentle readers would recall that in April this year Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo announced the launching of a new Nigerian Economic Diplomacy Initiative (NEDI) under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of this new initiative, according to the Vice-President, is to advance “building a competitive and vibrant national economy” in which the private sector is the driver of national transformation. It was also announced that a platform would be created within foreign ministry that would enable the country to tap into the skills and competencies of our Diaspora so that they can be mainstreamed into our national development efforts.
In recent years, the dwindling of our financial fortunes due to the collapse of world oil prices has meant that the government has had to cut back drastically on the budget for our foreign missions. During 2017 President Buhari ordered the closure of four of our foreign missions in a bid to cut costs and rationalise our external representation. Now is the time to revisit our “Father Christmas” approach to dealing with our African colleagues. I am constrained to note that doling out free largesse has not brought us goodwill whatsoever. Anti-Nigerian sentiments run deep not only among our Francophone brethren in West Africa, xenophobic sentiments against Nigeria are rife in East and Southern Africa. The Francophone countries, in particular, have this tendency of ganging up against our position in most international forums.
Until the election of Akinwumi Adesina as President of the African Development Bank Group May 2015, that institution was bedevilled by a culture that was hostile to Nigeria and Nigerians, despite the fact that who own more than 10 percent of the shares of that organisation. Same goes for ECOWAS, where we underwrite three-quarters of the operating budget.
My position, going forward, is that we must completely discard this tomfoolery of Father Christmas. Our economic diplomacy must be linked to a tough-minded “Nigeria First Policy”. Everything we do must be subjected to the calculus of fundamental national interests. There must be no sentiments about it. America, for example, thinks nothing of withholding its regular contributions to the UN, UNESCO and any other international organisation that remotely appears to be working against American purposes and interests around the world. We must exercise a policy based on “tough love” with our African brethren.
Going forward, we need to re-focus our foreign policy priorities to ensure that “every dollar counts” in maximising the impact and effectiveness of our external presence abroad. It is foolhardy to define Africa as “the centrepiece” of our foreign policy. We must have a “Nigeria First Policy” where our country and its vital national interests constitute the fulcrum of our external relations. Today, these vital interests must include the goal of economic security, the acquisition of science and technology secrets from abroad, diversification of our economy, pursuit of an industrial-technological revolution, attraction of foreign investors, dominant voice and influence in international economic institutions, projection of the Naira as an international convertible currency and de facto dominant currency on the continent, and the protection of our vital national industries as well as “the commanding heights” of our national economy.
Secondly, government must operationalise the New Economic Diplomacy Initiative with some degree of urgency. While we welcome the fact that a new Trade Negotiations Office has been created in the ministry of trade and investments, we do not think this is enough. We need to upgrade that office to the status of a National Commission on Trade Negotiations. This agency will be a veritable think tank and depository of knowledge and information on all matters related to our international trade interests. It should be a centre of reference throughout our continent in the management of international trade negotiations. It will also keep a database on trade activities and will monitor the global trade environment in terms of risks and opportunities. We expect this new establishment to expedite action in bringing successful closure to pending international trade treaties such as the Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU and the African Free Trade Area.
Thirdly, we need to effect some re-organisation within the ministry of foreign affairs by creating a new department for international economic affairs to be staffed with highly qualified economists, scientists and technologists. The work of this new department will be to serve as watchdog over our foreign economic interests while working to bring in investors, broker new economic partnerships and secure foreign markets for our goods and products.
We need to revive trade missions in the most important business centres in those countries with which we have strong economic and trade ties, notably metropolises such as Shanghai, Mumbai, London, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, Paris, Rotterdam, Johannesburg, Dubai, Brussels, Cairo, Nairobi, Abidjan, Addis Ababa and Zurich. We need also to build a new crop of experts who will serve as Commercial Attachés in the new trade missions. Promotion should strictly be based on performance while emoluments should be attractive enough to attract and retain the best. Our embassies should also mainstream economic and commercial work into the core of what they do. Substantial budgets should be committed to commercial work in general and economic intelligence in particular.
Fourthly, we propose the establishment of a National Trade Council under the presidency to provide guidance and strategic direction for external trade and international economic relations. This council will comprise the heads of the foreign ministry’s department for international economic affairs, the trade commission and those of cognate agencies such as the Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Ministry of Trade and Investments.

Obadiah Mailafia