The Foreign Commercial Service of the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria concluded a four-day outreach (April 4-7) to Enugu State that focused on expanding commercial ties between the U.S. and Nigeria, especially the South Eastern geo-political zone.

During the outreach, a team of trade and commercial specialists from the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, led by Commercial Counselor Brent Omdahl, held meetings with Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, state commissioners, and other senior Cabinet-level officials on trade opportunities which will contribute to mutual prosperity and job growth for both countries.

“This outreach demonstrates the strong U.S. business interest in expanding commercial ties with Nigeria,” Commercial Counselor Omdahl said.

Governor Ugwuanyi and Commercial Counselor Omdahl discussed U.S. investments in Enugu State, including the on-going $700 million Motir DuSable solar plant project in the Nachi community of Udi local government area. At full capacity, the solar plant will add 300 Megawatts to the national grid.

While in Enugu State, the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service participated in the 28th Enugu International Trade fair. The Foreign Commercial Service also hosted leading regional business owners at a workshop entitled: “Networking with the USA Business Summit and Conference – Enugu 2017”.

“We are expanding our Networking with the USA (NUSA) program to key growth areas in Nigeria and we see Enugu as one such important growth area. During this program, we advised Enugu companies on best practices for engaging with American companies, in addition to discussing U.S. agencies to work with in order to take advantage of various partnerships,” Commercial Counselor Omdahl said.

In the course of the Networking with the USA (NUSA) program, an American consular officer from the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos held a session with the business owners on the process for obtaining a business visa to America. The consular officer demystified the commonly held ideas about U.S. visa application process. 

The Foreign Commercial Service of the U.S. government works to promote the expansion of U.S. trade and investment to Nigeria through support of business partnerships between American and Nigerian companies.