By Agency Reporter

Tuesday, 8 Feb 2011

The Nigeria/Egypt Business Council on Monday in Kaduna, expressed serious concern over the lingering crisis in the Arab country.

The NEBC said that the ongoing political turmoil in Egypt had continued to cause incalculable damage to the economies of various countries across the globe.

The President of the Council, Alhaji Mohammed Yusuf Lere, told newsmen in Kaduna, that if the political crisis, which had ravaged Egypt in the past two weeks, was not quickly resolved, the economy of the entire world might soon feel its impact.

Lere argued that the Egyptian debacle had already dealt the business community around the world a devastating blow, saying that the country’s tourism sector alone must have lost close to $1bn since the crisis began.

He further warned that the increasing volume of business between Nigeria and Egypt, which at the end of last year was about $120m, might nosedive if the current political logjam in the country did not abate.

He added that many Egyptian companies operating in Nigeria were also losing at much because since the outbreak of the crisis in their country, their operations had become hampered as they now found it difficult to meet their logistics needs.

The NEBC president however noted that the crisis in Egypt should serve as a reminder to the Nigerian government of the need to strive to provide first class medical, education and energy infrastructure in the country.

Lere stated that Nigeria had her own fair share of the best professionals in various fields, adding that what the country lacked was just the right infrastructure for them to function effectively.

He said: “What is happening in Egypt is a big blow to the business community. It will affect even Europe. If the crisis continues, the price of oil may rise by up to 300 per cent.

“The Egyptian crisis is a big lesson to Nigeria in the sense that Nigerians go there for medical treatment and higher education. From what I know, Egypt is not better than Nigeria. All we need to do is to reorientate ourselves. It is for the government to lay more emphasis on infrastructure and instill more discipline in Nigerians to ensure that everything works. We need to have first class hospitals that are also affordable because all these things can be done in Nigeria. We have good doctors, nurses and teachers. There has to be encouragement and I believe after this transition, we’ll see changes in Nigeria.”

The NEBC president however pleaded with President Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian people to find an amicable solution to the current political crisis in their country in the interest of peace.

“We are pleading with the Egyptian people and President Mubarak to resolve this problem. We cannot speak for the Egyptian people. They know their problems and we hope they will resolve these problems amicably and in the interest of the relationship they have with Nigeria and other countries,” Lere said.

Source: Punch