American Business Council admits new members in Lagos

The American Business Council in Nigeria, an affiliate of the United States Chamber of Commerce, on Sunday admitted eight new corporate members into its fold.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that those who came onboard during its first special event in Lagos included Jumia, Cisco, J.P. Morgan, Africa Resource Center and US Soybean Export Council.
NAN reports that ABC was founded in 2005 as the voice of American businesses in Nigeria to promote trade and investment between both countries.
Claire Pierangelo, the Consul General of the US in Lagos, said at the event that the council had since its establishment played a key role in trade and investment.
Pierangelo said: “The council has brought together potential business in Nigeria and the US.
“This has in turn helped to strengthen the commercial ties between both countries.
“Nigeria remains one of our largest trading partners in Africa and we are excited about the partnerships that will be coming up in 2020.”
ABC Chief Executive Officer, Margaret Olele, said the council was working with partners to create an enabling environment for US companies in Nigeria.
Olele said: ““The environment is getting more complex in terms of advocacy issues but we’re hopeful that 2020 would be a better year.
“We would be engaging the government a lot in different sectors to ensure that solutions are found to all issues.”
Similarly, President of the Council, Dipo Faulkner, said 2019 had been an eventful year considering growth and the louder voice the council had in terms of advocacy.
Faulkner said: “We hope that the efforts put into this year will yield more results in 2020 because we not only work with the US missions in Nigeria, but also speak as the voice of American businesses in the country.
“We create a platform for them to speak about their problems, we not only listen to them, we also put them in front of the right audience.”