Olayinka Ogunmekan, a former President of the Nigerian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, has hailed President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to the United Kingdom as a strategic move to enhance Nigeria’s position in the global business arena.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Ogunmekan noted that while the visit is historic, its economic impact may take time to materialize.
“The economic fallout is not something you can realise overnight. I commend our action President for taking the bold step of reaching out to other countries for us to take advantage of their investment opportunities and to improve our trade with them,” he said.
He described the trip as an opportunity for Nigeria to re-establish itself internationally. “This is an opportunity for Nigeria to reset itself in the global business forum.
Nigeria has lots of potential to showcase to the world. We are now becoming more credible and reliable in global ratings,” Ogunmekan stated.
According to him, official visits should be viewed as avenues to forge stronger international economic partnerships.
“We should now look at official travels as building a super highway of global business connections, which all Nigerians should now embrace,” he added.
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Ogunmekan also urged the Federal Government to broaden its diplomatic and economic outreach, particularly targeting Sweden. “I hope Sweden would now be on the priority official travel plan agenda,” he said.
Highlighting ongoing business collaborations, he cited examples such as Oriflame and Ericsson. “Oriflame, a leading social selling beauty company and Skincare Ingredients, paid out N16.3 billion to Nigerians as trade benefits between 2015 and 2024.
“In February 2026, following a 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Federal Government of Nigeria partnered with Ericsson of Sweden to launch the ‘Connect NextGen’ Innovation Hackathon, aimed at upskilling Nigerian youth in 5G, IoT, AI, and cloud technology,” he said.
Ogunmekan stressed that more Swedish firms are eager to invest in Nigeria and emphasized the importance of exploring global opportunities across trade, education, and security sectors.
“Nigeria is not an island, and we must explore all opportunities, be it on trade, education or security,” he said.
He concluded with a call for national renewal, asserting, “Nigeria must be restored.”