Tunisian companies urged to seize opportunities in Niger market

Niamey: "Tunisian companies are invited to seize the opportunities offered by the Niger market, particularly in such key sectors as agriculture, energy, water, health and real estate," said Jamel Ksibi, president of the National Federation of Construction and Public Works Contractors, part of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA). Speaking at the Niger-Tunisia Business Forum held in Niamey on Monday, he expressed the desire of Tunisian businessmen, especially young entrepreneurs, to invest in Niger and set up projects in the agricultural, health and construction and public works (BTP) sectors. Noamen Hamdani, head of the commercial representation of the Export Promotion Centre (CEPEX) in Abidjan, pointed out that around 60 companies (excluding the service sector) export their products to Niger, but only 5 companies export on a regular basis. These exports consist mainly of food products (couscous, flour, etc.) and mechanical and electrical products (cables, transformers, etc .)," he said. He went on to say that CEPEX was working to help Tunisian companies find a strategic partner to ensure the long-term future of Tunisian exports both to the Niger market and to other markets in sub-Saharan Africa. Tunisian exports to the Niger market remain low, despite the existence of a number of opportunities," he said. In 2023, they will amount to 20 million dinars, compared with 45 million dinars in 2021. For his part, Niger's Minister of Trade and Industry, Seydou Asman, pointed out that the Nigerien government intends to encourage the promotion and development of partnerships between Nigerien businessmen and their Tunisian counterparts in order to realise commercial opportunities and contracts and carry out industrial projects. He underlined that the private sector will help to meet two major challenges: the massive creation of jobs for young people and the generation of substantial own resources for the development of basic infrastructures in the economic, health, energy, hydraulics, hotel, education and access to information and communication technologies sectors. The Niger Minister invited Tunisian companies to take advantage of the investment opportunities offered by Niger in all sectors of activity in order to establish win-win partnerships between the two countries. He pointed out that Niger occupies a strategic position in Africa, being at the crossroads between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. He went on to say that Niger is a multicultural and multilingual country whose social cohesion is based on the values of wisdom, solidarity and tolerance inherited from its past as a land of transit and mixing of populations. For his part, President of the Niger Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Handicrafts, Moussa Sidi Mohamed, invited Tunisian companies to invest in Niger with confidence, saying that Niger's business leaders are eager to forge fruitful and mutually beneficial partnerships. Niger's regulatory framework is conducive to investment and offers a wide range of opportunit ies," he added. In 2022, trade between Niger and Tunisia reached $10.191 million in imports and $31 million in exports. More than thirty Tunisian companies are taking part in a business mission to Niamey, Niger, from May 4 to 9, 2024, at the initiative of the National Chamber of Export Consultants (UTICA) and the Tunisia-Niger Development Economic Interest Group (GIE Tunisie Niger Développement), in collaboration with the Niger Ministry of Trade and Industry. The main objective of this business mission is to increase the presence of Tunisian products in Niger and Nigerien products in Tunisia, and to promote exchanges of experts between the two countries. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse