Secretary of State Tuggar says global inequality threatens SDGs and seeks stronger trade ties with Nordic countries

Nigeria has ruined rising global inequality, leaving many countries unable to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.

Speaking on Thursday at the ongoing Nordic-African Business Summit in Oslo, Foreign Minister Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar noted that the summit is potentially a landmark event in the history of the relationship between the Nordic countries and Africa.

He said: “We are meeting at a time of weakening global economic performance, even as the Inflation Reduction Act has had a salutary effect on the world’s largest economy: the US. Inequality is increasing as it becomes even clearer that we are unlikely to meet our Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.”

Tuggar further said: “More troubling is the state of geopolitical affairs as we transition from a bipolar order to a unipolar moment and then to a multipolar system after the Cold War.

“Protectionism and trade barriers have made a comeback in what we thought had become an interconnected, globalized world. Whether or not this is the result of the transition to a less stable multipolar system should not detain us here.

“What is clear is that the world has become a less safe and scarier world and the businessmen and women in this room should be all the more concerned. Conflicts are raging in Ukraine, Sudan and the Levant, each with the potential to spiral into a broader global conflict.

“That of the Levant has already become one, with Israel’s pre-emptive strikes on Iran two days ago sparking a response. In my region, the expanding Sahel has become a theater for unconstitutional changes of government, organized criminal gangs and banditry.

“Migration has been weaponized, with eco-fascists calling for border closures and the far right becoming mainstream in some countries. The unnecessary use of fear of migrants has forgotten the admonition of Adam Smith – the father of economics – that the free movement of labor is the foundation of any free trade system.

“When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out globally in 2020, we witnessed the beginning of vaccine apartheid, as richer countries pulled up the drawbridges and deprived others of the intellectual property to reproduce the vaccines, even if they had the capacity. ”

The Nigerian Foreign Minister emphasized that: “Much of what is wrong today has been reinforced by the terrifying idea that we live in a post-factual era that feeds on the pursuit of identity politics. Social media makes it increasingly difficult for us to interact with people who are not like us and has become a space for performed contempt. Being louder means being right.”

However, he added: “Having painted that bleak picture, I am happy to say that today we have the opportunity to do something very special between the Scandinavian and African private and public sectors.

“It was no less a businessman than you – Alfred Nobel – who saw fit to donate the Peace Prize to a Norwegian committee. He knows what he saw in Norway and the Norwegians, even though he wasn’t one.

“The entrepreneurs here have the unique opportunity to use their individual freedom of choice to take advantage of the enormous opportunities that exist on the African continent.

“Yes, Africa’s share of global trade is minuscule, but the growth opportunities for those who get in early are enormous. And the African Continental Free Trade Area is becoming a reality; currently only 17% of African exports remain on the continent, compared to 69% for Europe and 59% for Asia.

“The AFCFTA will change this with tariff eliminations that will unlock $50 billion to $70 billion in value. We want clean-energy Norwegian ships to transport goods from the deep-sea port of Lekki in Lagos to Zanzibar. Norwegian trade with all of Africa currently amounts to a paltry $8.5 billion. it is not enough.”

He stated that: “The mere fact that 70% of the 220 million Nigerians are under the age of 30 and that most of them own mobile phones and get high-speed internet is proof that this will be the key to future global economic growth.

“As further proof that Nigeria will be successful in the future, I urge you to meet and engage with a successful Nigerian entrepreneur.

“They are African modern Vikings who can succeed anywhere in the world. It’s not a fluke. They are resilient problem solvers with a tireless ‘can-do’ mentality.”

Michael Olugbode