What are the biggest achievements during your tenure in Nigeria and how do you think this will impact on the relationship between the two countries going forward?
It has been an impressive time for me in Nigeria. In the cause of the past four years we have achieved a lot and it is very difficult to single out only one achievement but may be this is the renewed spirit of cooperation between Bulgaria and Nigeria .We finally found a very good ground on common interest which is to develop trade and business relationship and also deepening cooperation in other areas such as agriculture, hi –tech and in sports.
Of course when it comes to political cooperation, our relations have been very well-enhanced and we have signed a lot of agreements both between the governments of Bulgaria and Nigeria and the people and between the business communities of both countries.
So, we are registering a very good turnout for the past years with an impressive 70% growth in trade compared to 2023. We are registering an increased number of Nigerian students in Bulgaria and we are also seeing that all the comprehensive efforts coming out from the different sectors of both countries are now coming to fruition. So, we have renewed cooperation in many areas of our partnership and I am sure we will build for the next stage.
What are the most significant challenges you faced in Nigeria and how did you overcome them?
I have to be very frank; I did not experience any significant challenge in my work as an ambassador in Nigeria. Bulgaria and Nigeria have a rich history of cooperation that has resulted in more than 4,000 Nigerians who have studied in Bulgaria. We have more than 4,000 Bulgarian alumni in Nigeria. When you have 4,000 other ambassadors of Bulgaria to Nigeria, your work is very much facilitated by them and it is facilitated by the common political will between the two governments to develop these relationships.
I am sure that when it comes to challenges, it is just to convince all sectors of the Nigerian society and all sectors of the Bulgarian society, businesses in particular to find a way to revise what has been built and developed through the year. It is not a challenge but an objective necessity by both nations, both business communities and governments to understand better that we have more in common and we can cooperate very efficiently in reviving the relationship.
What are the most promising areas of cooperation between Nigeria and Bulgaria and what lessons are there on how to build on the progress made during your term?
In the past four years, we have achieved a lot of milestones. I am proud of the Bulgarian Development Cooperation Project, which was the EU common efforts to help Nigeria and other African countries to start producing locally made vaccines and this is a very important achievement that we can build further on.
It is really a landmark in Bulgaria because before this project was unveiled in Nigeria there were other African countries that were selected to be part of the overall EU approach towards this. Because of the ground that Bulgaria provided for Nigerian government, we now see Nigeria on top of the new priorities in terms of local production of vaccines. I think that this is one of the most important areas where Bulgaria as an EU member state will keep contributing.
In the area of agriculture, we have already implemented two projects that have been executed in Katsina and Abia states, and we are looking for ways of deepening this cooperation as well. I am sure that we can identify many more activities which are resulting from the Bulgaria – Nigeria Business Forum which was held in Sofia about two years ago that has resulted in this very impressive 70% increase in trade volume between both countries.
What are the real figures in terms of trade volume between both countries?
The real figures will be available soon but the trade volume is around $42 million but we want to increase it. We have organized several trade missions between Bulgaria and Nigeria and many Bulgarian companies have participated in trade fairs in Lagos and Abuja. The Lagos chamber of Commerce organized the Business forum in Sofia with the Bulgarian chamber of commerce. We have developed good relations in the IT sector and creative economy and we want to improve on that.
