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Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ashraf Salama | credits: |
In this interview with KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ashraf Salama, explains how Nigeria can make more money from tourism
What is the state of the bilateral relations between Egypt and Nigeria?
The bilateral relations between Egypt and Nigeria date hundred years back. There is a lot of relationship between the two peoples. There was a lot of trade, a lot of doctors, and a lot of interactive educational activities like teachers and professors who came to Nigeria. But we have been distant from each other for some time now. The embassy’s vision is to reintroduce our people to each other again. There is a lot of interest from both sides to cement this relationship. Since I came to Nigeria, I really wanted to know where we could be partners and help each other especially in humanitarian works.
Since you came into the country, what areas have caught your interest?
What I found interesting is the health sector. The health sector is really in need of progress and development to enable people to have a better life and health. We have a huge experience in this field. We have a lot of doctors who are qualified and could come and help. They have a competitive experience and the service they will offer is invaluable. They could save a lot of lives who could have died of simple symptoms. So, our main aim is to send doctors to hospitals in Nigeria. There are lots of requests in this field from different states; there are also requests for pharmaceuticals. There are lot of Nigerians bringing pharmaceuticals from Egypt.
There is need to legitimise its mode of importation and distribution. Pharmaceuticals in Egypt are known for their good quality and very competitive prices compared to other countries. We are hoping to have more diagnostic centres here in Nigeria to save people from the rigour of travelling abroad for treatment. A lot of Nigerians travel to Egypt for treatment. Our aim of bringing doctors to Nigeria is to help people who cannot travel to Egypt for medicals.
Investment in agriculture is also very important in Nigeria. Nigeria has a vast fertile land ready for cultivation.
You have water, you have the rain, and you have all the good resources. Egypt has a lot of experience in the field of agriculture and irrigation. Our minister of water resources visited Nigeria recently and Nigeria’s minister will soon visit Egypt. This will enable them to continue with the bilateral talks, to see how the two countries can develop water resources and irrigation in Nigeria. I hope the visit will yield results. Our irrigation engineers are ready to come and work in Nigeria. This would open new opportunities for Nigerians. The revenue from this will be surprisingly overwhelming.
Education is another area. There are a lot of demands from Nigerian families to send their children abroad for studies — undergraduate or post-graduate. There are so many universities that send students by scholarship to Egypt annually across all fields. Egypt offers about 25 scholarships annually for Nigerian post-graduate students. The Nigerian working class living in Egypt with their families also allows their children to go to school in Egypt. Over 48 priests from Azar University are also in centres for Arabic studies and Islamic institutions in Nigeria to spread the tolerance of Islam.
In business, there are several companies working in Nigeria. One of them is Arab Contractors which specialises in construction. It has been here since 1962. There is also Caterpillars, there is MCD making frames for shuttle buses of Mercedes in Lagos. We also have other companies for renewable energy that are trying to come into the Nigerian market to help rural dwellers with the provision of basic needs. We have a company manufacturing cable and transformer in Lagos. Rascom which had businesses here before is also coming back to Nigeria. Most of our companies are dealing in infrastructure, health and education development.
Is Egypt really safe for people to invest in?
Egypt has always been a big economic base; it has a strong institutional system. Despite some of the political conflicting debates — not instability — Egypt is still strong and forging ahead with its capabilities. Now is a good time to invest in Egypt; it is a favourable climate for investment. We have a good investment laws, we have encouraging investment opportunities, the labour is affordable and available with technical expertise.
There are many interests from Nigerian businessmen to invest in tourism, aluminium frame and food products. They can also invest in hospitals by bringing doctors to Nigeria. There is also interest in the tourism industry. Nigeria has put so much of its capabilities and attention on the oil industry but there are other fields that have not been given equal importance as the oil sector. Nigeria is a country with so many diverse natures and beauty. So, there is need for attractive tourism in this country. This will help a lot to reintroduce Nigeria to the world. It will attract tourists from all over the world to see for example the beautiful resorts, Yankari Games
Reserve, waterfall of Gurara, lagoon of Lagos among others. These are world-class beauty that everybody that visits will appreciate. When they come, they will be introduced to Nigeria and of course the real Nigerians whom we know. The Nigeria of tolerance, beauty, decency — this is what I have experienced in my stay here in Nigeria. We have a lot of affordable expertise that we could offer to Nigeria. It is a good opportunity for businessmen from the two countries to invest in these sectors. Egypt and Nigeria are the two biggest countries in Africa; their cooperation will be significant to solidify the inter-African relationship that is not feasible at the moment. It will constitute a pilot and strong example for relations. It will give a big push for Africa to rise with all its big market, natural and human resources. Africa is the future of the world and if we (Nigeria and Egypt) don’t make big example then we are not doing well to Africans. We are all Africans in spite of our differences. Egypt and Nigeria have no conflict on regional and international issues. I hope the coordination in this area will be very close so that we have a unified, solidified, respectable and credible stand in front of the world. In Economic Community of West African States, we are trying hard to reinforce our support to peace efforts especially in Mali and to be accredited as Ambassador to ECOWAS. We (Nigeria and Egypt) are members of New Partnership for Africa’s Development. We are exploring possibilities of our companies investing in each other country. We are both members of D8. Our two Presidents are keen to work together.
Do you have consideration for visa waiver between the two countries?
How to actualise the visa waiver will be discussed through the D8. We have approached the Nigeria Foreign Affairs Ministry because we want a Memorandum of Understanding for political consultation between our two ministries. It is in the process to fix the date for the Nigeria’s side to go to Egypt to sign the MoU. This will pave the way for our Bi-National Commission later on. This might be discussed during the meeting if the two sides decide to discuss the matter.
Egypt is very experienced in tourism industry. We like to encourage Nigeria not only to come for medical tourism in Egypt but to view Egypt as the creator of the civilisation of the whole world. Civilisation started from Africa. They say it is human history but it is a human-African history; it started from Egypt in Africa. We have monuments, resorts and sophisticated places in Egypt. When some people visited those places, they did not believe that such places exit in Egypt. Nigeria has so many beautiful places but they are not utilised. Nigeria needs more publicity on tourism because this is a big business.
Source: Punch
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