From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Mrs. Rosie Glazebrook is the Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC). In this interview, she highlighted the strategic role of Nigeria in the economic growth and development of the Commonwealth nations.
She also spoke about efforts to connect businesses in Nigeria and other Commonwealth countries to global opportunities.
What is the role of CWEIC in the activities of Commonwealth?
CWEIC is a commercial, not-for-profit membership organisation with an official mandate from the Commonwealth Heads of Government to facilitate trade and investment throughout the 56 Commonwealth member-nations. CWEIC uses the convening power and trusted network of the Commonwealth, which is led by His Majesty the King of England to drive trade and investment in and among the Commonwealth countries. It acts as a conduit between governments and the private sector where we have an advantage through our membership and wider stakeholder contacts to promote global thought leadership on key issues.
What’s the strength of the network?
CWEIC has strong network that revolves around 140 businesses and government strategic partners (members) including Standard Chartered, Zenith Bank, Trade & Investment Queensland and the Government of the Maldives from 35 countries and territories. Every two years, CWEIC hosts the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in association with the host country of The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
You were in Nigeria recently. What was the significance of the visit?
It was a visit that provided opportunity to have discussions with our Strategic Partners in Nigeria. We have over 20 of them in Nigeria and they comprise reputable and blue-chip companies. Interestingly, we have a growing strategic partnership in Nigeria, hence the need for this visit. Undisputedly, Nigeria occupies a strategic position in the Commonwealth Family of Nations which has 56 member-countries. Aside the size and population, Nigeria has the largest economy among the 21 Commonwealth countries in Africa. I was pleased to meet with our strategic partners and also met with potential ones. There are a number of businesses in Nigeria that are being invited to join our network as strategic partners in the several meetings I had during the visit to understand their priorities.
You were in Nigeria last year. Was it on a similar mission?
Yes, I visited Nigeria in May last year. This was few days after I resumed office as the Chief Executive of CWEIC. In fact, my first visit to Nigeria was in 1995. At the recent visit, I noticed that things have changed tremendously between the time of my first visit and now. However, the visit being my first as the CEO of CWEIC was a pointer to the importance attached to Nigeria, and our desire to see its economy grow and by extension the economy of the Commonwealth nations. During the meeting of last year, we had fruitful discussions. Since then, our engagements have only grown steadily. We have had additional strategic partners. This time last year, we had 15 strategic partners in Nigeria but the figure has risen to over 20.
What role does CWEIC play for businesses in Commonwealth nations?
Our role is strategic. We focus on ways to connect businesses in the Commonwealth nations through our extensive and trusted network of contacts and relationships at the highest levels of Commonwealth governments, businesses, multi-lateral institutions, and academia. We are able to link members with the right decision makers and the results have been amazing. In addition to that, we create opportunities. We do this by facilitating targeted trade missions, business forums and networking events, thought leadership webinars, bespoke investment programmes and strategic introductions to support members in their bids to win new business.
What are the roles of the strategic partners in the activities of CWEIC?
Our strategic partners are key members of CWEIC. They are part of a network that is active on global trade issues. They influence global discourse as well as government policies and decisions, thus forming a collective voice and engaging directly with senior government leaders and policy makers. In Nigeria, we have about 20 strategic partners and they include Dangote Group, Famfa Oil Limited, Zenith Bank Plc, African Export Import Bank, Seplat Energy, Lagos Free Zone, Africa Law Practice NG & Co, Custodian Investment Plc, Novare Equity Partners, Leadway Assurance, L.A.T Cleveson, Investment One, Next International Nigeria Limited, Prime Atlantic, Chicason Group, YOA Insurance Brokers, Emerging Africa Group, Honeywell Group, LandAfrique, Matrix Energy and Calaya Engineering Services.
How do you think SMEs and private businesses can be improved in Nigeria?
It’s often not in our practice to delve into the politics of any nation. Rather, we stick to our core mandate which is to provide a linking ground for businesses in Commonwealth nations to grow and develop. At CWEIC, we provide the opportunity and voice for the private sector to outline their challenges and other impediment on their businesses. CWEIC serves as enabler and makes introductions where there are obstacles that may have to do with policy issues or challenges of having visibility at the right place. We often use our hub network and access to different organisations at very senior levels to strengthen businesses and opportunities using the platform of the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF). This has helped to amplify the voices of Nigerian companies in an international market. We have the Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN), which has multiple members of legal professional firms in the CWEIC Strategic Partnership that have Nigerian representatives on it. So, we bring together people with common aims and also provide visibility and access to key decision-makers in government and other businesses.
Is growing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Commonwealth nations a part of your mandate?
Yes, that’s right. The GDP of the Commonwealth nations put together is currently over 14.5 trillion dollars. But the projection is that by 2027, the GDP of Commonwealth nations should grow to, at least, 19 trillion dollars. This will help to boost the economy of the Commonwealth and create wealth for its people. Steps to achieving this goal would be extensively discussed at the forthcoming Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit scheduled for November in London. Also, there will be discussions on: reducing barriers to trade, investment finance for emerging markets, accelerating global health coverage, education technologies, harnessing the Africa opportunity, global risk, and financing the energy transition, SME support, among other issues that may emerge.
What are your plans for the youths in the Commonwealth nations?
The youth population in Commonwealth nations is a great asset that should be maximally utilised. Evidently, the majority of countries in the Commonwealth have larger population of young people than older people. For instance, in Nigeria, over 60 per cent of the population are young people that are below the age of 30. So, our interest is to prioritise skill development engagements for these young people particularly digital skills which is a must-have for any younger entrepreneurs to make head-way. We are also working on partnerships with the academia and the universities to possibly support their academic and non-academic programmes. Nigeria has a very young workforce and education is very much prioritised in the country. So, I am hopeful that may be an area that we look to do more on. That may take the form of internships and upscaling within some of the industries here and elsewhere.