By Ron Chen, Bureau Chief, Asia

One of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, Dubai International Chamber has inaugurated its seventh representative office on the African continent in Nigeria. Located in Lagos, the chamber’s 28th international office worldwide will further strengthen the economic and trade ties between Dubai and Africa.

The office was inaugurated during the chamber’s ‘New Horizons’ trade mission to West Africa, which saw a delegation of 15 Dubai-based companies participate in specially arranged business forums in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire to learn more about the local business landscapes and explore partnership opportunities. The two events attracted more than 450 attendees and around 365 bilateral business meetings were arranged between the companies from Dubai and their counterparts from West Africa.

President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, H.E. Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah said: “The Nigerian market is one of the largest in Africa and enables Dubai-based traders to access a wide range of markets across Central and Western Africa. Our Lagos office will establish new channels of communication and economic cooperation, andwe look forward to working together to boost bilateral trade and investment.”

The new office will seek to strengthen relationships with key public and private sector stakeholders and deliver a comprehensive range of support to the local business community, including assisting Nigerian companies to enter the Dubai market and expand through the emirate. The team will also support and guide Dubai-based businesses that plan to enter the Nigerian market throughout every stage of their international growth.

The trade mission followed a recent similar roadshow to East Africa, in which 19 companies visited Kenya and Rwanda. More than 400 bilateral business meetings were conducted during the East Africa roadshow, with the forum events in each country attracting a combined total of over 300 attendees.

The trade missions to Africa came as part of New Horizons, an initiative that enables companies to explore investment opportunities and joint economic partnerships in targeted markets. New Horizons forms a key part of the chamber’s strategy to achieve the ambitions of Dubai’s foreign trade plan, which seeks to increase the value of non-oil foreign trade to AED 2 trillion(US$544.6million) by 2026.