Thank you, Vice Chancellor Professor Okonedo, for the warm welcome.  Your leadership and the commendable work of you and your team are truly appreciated.  Pan Atlantic University is a strategic educational partner of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria.

Good afternoon, everyone.  I am delighted to be here with you all today. My sincere appreciation goes to the Dean, Professor Olayinka David-West, and the entire management, staff, and students at the Lagos Business School, LBS, for inviting me to speak with you this afternoon and for the very warm welcome I have received. It is truly an honour to speak at this distinguished institution, one of Africa’s finest graduate business schools and a beacon of innovation and entrepreneurship on the continent.

I first want to say a few words about LBS. We at the U.S. Mission in Nigeria cherish our partnership with LBS, that dates back many years. My team in Lagos truly appreciates LBS’ monthly breakfast meetings. You have created a community of learning that connects people and institutions in ways that help us better understand the realities of Nigeria and to identify opportunities to enhance the peace, security, and prosperity of the American and Nigerian peoples.  

Dean David-West, thank you for the continued support to further the intellectual exchange at the heart of the LBS-U.S. Mission relationship, including, most recently, our partnership to execute our Global AI conference last September. Your leadership builds on that of Dean Ogbechie [OG-beh-CHI] and those before you who have created a remarkable institution built on international best practices.

And let’s not forget the foresight of the location we now stand on. A decade ago, LBS had the vision to move from Victoria Island to Lekki and helped pave the way to a “new Lagos” that is truly taking shape. This morning, I had the privilege of witnessing this transformation firsthand during my visit to the Lagos Free Zone. This area is home to American companies like Kellogg’s and Colgate-Palmolive, which have helped elevate the U.S.-Nigeria bilateral trade relationship to new heights. Just a couple of weeks ago, our acting Consul General visited Alaro City, located just north of the refinery. This burgeoning area is attracting investments from American companies like Mantrac/Caterpillar, further enhancing bilateral trade, investment, and opportunities for both our nations. All these visits, as well as being here on the LBS campus, fills me with much optimism about the Trans-Atlantic connections that unite our peoples, economies, and cultures.

So, let’s talk a bit about that promise of future prosperity. As some of you may already know, just last month at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, the chief of the Bureau of African Affairs at the State Department, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, launched the State Department’s new Commercial Diplomacy Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa. This strategy marks a new chapter in U.S.-Africa relations—a strategy rooted in a goal of expanded economic opportunity, deepened commercial engagement, and long-term mutual prosperity.

Of course, any strategy starts with people, and I would like to reflect briefly on how far the United States and Nigeria have come in deepening our people-to-people ties, the foundation of our relationship. Nigeria is the world’s present and future. As the African continent’s most populous country, Nigeria is poised to overtake the United States as the third most populous country in the world by 2050, with a population projected to exceed 375 million. Nigeria is already the United States’ second-largest trading partner in Africa, with two-way trade in goods and services totalling nearly $13 billion in 2024. In terms of investment, the United States remains one of Nigeria’s leading foreign investors, with foreign direct investment reaching $6.5 billion in 2023—a 5.5 per cent increase from 2022.

Our strong partnership is built on the rich connections that exist between our countries, our companies, our entrepreneurs, and our people. Take companies like Flutterwave, Andela, and Esusu—they were all founded by remarkable young Nigerians who studied in the United States. I’m sure even more start-ups will emerge from the minds of the more than 20,000 Nigerian students currently studying in the United States. Those Nigerian students represent the largest number of students from any African country and the 7th largest worldwide. Similarly, Nigerians are the largest African diaspora group in the United States, with over 750,000 people of Nigerian descent living in the United States. These deep bonds of familial, educational, business, and cultural connections underscore the strategic importance of Nigeria to U.S. policy objectives in Africa.

Over the last few decades, the United States has invested billions of dollars in Nigeria’s health, education, and agriculture sectors—saving lives and creating economic opportunities. Today, we are at an inflection point. Now is the time for us to build on the strength of these investments and for Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies with huge economic potential, to enter a new phase of vibrant private sector-led growth. Our approach is clear. We are making a shift from aid to trade. We are engaging African nations not as aid recipients but as capable commercial partners. As our chief for African Affairs said, “Going forward, we will continue to invest in development – but we will do so through expanded trade and private investment because it is the private sector – not assistance – that drives economic growth.”  By promoting two-way trade and investment, we will drive mutual growth for both our nations.  

As U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, a key priority of my mandate is to increase trade, investment, and business linkages between our two nations. To achieve this goal, last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce—together with Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment—signed a Commercial and Investment Partnership agreement, a five-year memorandum of understanding that prioritizes three key pillars: agriculture, the digital economy, and infrastructure. Nigeria is one of only five African nations that the U.S. has signed a CIP agreement with. We are officially launching the Partnership discussions later this month in Abuja.

The three working groups on agriculture, tech, and infrastructure, consisting of both U.S. and Nigerian private sector representatives, will be taking a hard look at each sector’s non-tariff barriers to trade and other regulatory challenges, which, for too long, have dampened two-way trade and investment. Both governments will listen and learn from these private sector working groups on what concrete steps both governments can take to address these challenges.  

The CIP process puts government and business into the same room to remove obstacles to trade. I firmly believe that working together to advance our shared economic interests will create jobs, boost innovation, and unlock new opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Taking full advantage of these opportunities requires not only natural resources and human capital but also a stable, transparent, and business-friendly regulatory and investment climate. When companies make decisions on where to do business around the world, they seek out those markets where the business environment is rules-based and predictable.  We stand ready to partner with Nigeria to strengthen the institutions and regulatory frameworks that will make Nigeria an even more attractive place to do business.

My colleagues and I at the U.S. Mission will continue to work with our Nigerian counterparts across the federal and subnational governments to support ongoing reforms critical to attracting U.S. foreign direct investment to Nigeria.  

Our interagency team of economic and trade experts at the U.S. Mission includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, the State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Last year alone, their work together produced a myriad of events that cemented our economic and commercial investments in Nigeria. These included the 6th U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission with a strong focus on economic prosperity, the launch of the U.S.-Nigeria Strategic Energy Dialogue, and the Global AI Conference hosted in Lagos last September.

Our Commerce Department, based here in Lagos, is playing a pivotal role in translating opportunity into action by leveraging information on trade leads that open new market opportunities for U.S. export-ready companies. In 2024, the Commerce Department team at the U.S. Mission led 10 official Nigerian trade show delegations to the United States; organised 20 trade events that brought U.S. companies to Nigeria’s doorstep in Lagos and Abuja; and facilitated over 7,000 business-to-business meetings through the Networking with the USA program which reaches companies across Nigeria.  

But of course, at the heart of our commercial relationships around the world are American companies, the private sector, that has driven American and rising global prosperity for decades and promises to do the same well into the future. Currently, more than 80 large U.S. companies operate in Nigeria across sectors like manufacturing, energy, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and technology.

President Tinubu himself has written about how his partnership with Oracle during his tenure as Lagos governor transformed public administration and paved the way for more growth and prosperity. We want to grow the number of American companies – small, medium, and large – that are driving ingenuity and, innovation, and prosperity for Americans and Nigerians alike. We also aim to unlock access for Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs to the U.S. capital market—which, at over $120 trillion, is the largest globally and continues to rank among the most liquid and efficient in the world. Already, U.S. venture capital firms are investing in Nigerian start-ups. 

Over 60 per cent of venture capital funding in Nigeria comes from the United States. We must continue to foster an enabling business environment that catalyzes investment and collaboration needed to attract this kind of high-impact investment.

Success requires partnership. So, we’re asking U.S. businesses to step up to the challenge, invest their time and resources, and seize the great opportunity the Nigerian market offers. We’re asking Nigerian policymakers to create the conditions to stimulate investment and recognize the long-term value and excellence of U.S. products and services. And we’re asking Nigerian students, including you here at LBS, to expand their business and management knowledge in order to be the leaders of Nigeria’s next stage of economic growth.

In closing, let me reiterate: the United States is committed to strengthening our trade relationship and continuing to work with Nigeria to unlock the full potential of our commercial partnership for the benefit of the people of both our nations.

Thank you.

Speech delivered by U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills at the Lagos Business School Fireside Chat on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at Honeywell Auditorium, Lagos Business School, Ajah, Lagos.