Two Nigerian entrepreneurs are seeking to help Georgia companies establish business ties in the industrial equipment and telecommunications technology industries in their African country.
Demi Soneye, director of global services for Lagos-based international business consulting firm, Burrbitts Inc., and Nat Nwizu, president of Omart International Inc., a newly-established international manufacturing and trading company in Stone Mountain, each told GlobalFax they want to serve as consultants for Georgia firms interested in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
During an interview at the World Trade Center Atlanta, Ms. Soneye, said Burrbitts can “get U.S. companies up and running” in Nigeria or other African countries, especially in the telecommunications field. She arrived in Atlanta two weeks ago to set up a Burrbitts office here.
Mr. Nwizu told GlobalFax in a separate interview during a Center for Trade and Technology Transfer conference on doing business in Africa, April 26-27, that Omart International can find Nigerian partners for Georgia companies that wish to export heavy industrial equipment to Nigeria.
Ms. Soneye noted that with the current industrial policy objectives and present political climate, opportunities in Nigeria for private investment were vast. She indicated that telecommunications, power, oil and gas, information technology, rubber and cocoa were among the industries with the best opportunities for Georgia companies, and they would be wise to look into those markets now.
She added that U.S. companies excluding Nigeria from their
African commercial strategy based on alarmist, misleading and often incorrect information may miss out on good business opportunities as a consequence.
“Nigeria is so viable because there is so much it needs, as well as so much it can offer,” she asserted.
Mr. Nwizu agreed, saying that Nigeria has many resources, but “Nigerians just need partners who have the equipment necessary to extract and utilize those resources.”
Atlanta is Burrbitts’ first location outside of Nigeria. Ms. Soneye said Burrbitts chose Atlanta because in recent years, specifically after the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia has become one of the fastest growing states for business in the U.S.
Mr. Nwizu is a native Nigerian who came to Atlanta in the 1970s to get his Master’s degree in economics from Atlanta University and returned to Nigeria to work as an economist and bank manager in charge of trading transactions.
He most recently was the commercial director for a private construction company in Nigeria where he gained extensive experience in importing agricultural and construction equipment to Nigeria.
Contact Ms. Soneye in Atlanta at (678) 640-1736 or BurrbittsInc@aol.com. Contact Mr. Nwizu at (404) 296-1266, fax (404) 296-6258 or onwizu@mediaone.net